Charged up Team BrahMos set to storm Aero India

BENGALURU: Team BrahMos Aerospace will have a lot to cheer for during the 10th edition of Aero India set to begin in the Aviation Capital from February 18.

Sources confirm to OneIndia that the exceptional man-management skills of its CEO Sudhir Kumar, who took over in August 2014, are paying rich dividends for one of the most-successful missile-making firms in the world.

"BrahMos had serious issues with its production of the missiles recently when the supply of INS (Inertial Navigation Systems) dried up from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited's Korwa Division.

The issue was settled and the supplies resumed after Sudhir Kumar played a mentor's role than that of a CEO," a senior Ministry of Defence official directly looking after the BRAHMOS matters told OneIndia. 

Renewed focus on HR

The official said that after Sudhir Kumar took charge, he brought in a systematic change in the functions of BrahMos Aerospace.

"He is putting together his stints in DRDO and Embassy in Russia to good use. He is keen to spread the wings of BRAHMOS in India by taking DRDO alongside. Human resources is one area that seems to have got a major push from him," the official said.

There are 1000 employees directly working with BrahMos. It has over 200 industry partners supporting the project across India, which employes close to 20,000 people.

BRAHMOS was inducted into the Indian Navy in 2005 and the Army deliveries commenced in December 2007.

The air version of BRAHMOS is now expected to be flight-tested from a Sukhoi fighter within the next two months.

At Aero India, BrahMos Aerospace is exhibiting all its capabilities, including a peek into its future plans. All the top executives of the company, an Indo-Russian joint venture, have arrived in the city for the show.

16 BRAHMOS missiles onboard P15A class ships

OneIndia has learnt that all the three ships under the Project 15A of Indian Navy are capable of carrying 16 BRAHMOS missiles each. The INS Kolkata, from which a BRAHMOS was fired recently, is also equipped with 16 missiles.

"Eighth missiles can be fired at different targets and the turnaround time is only two minutes to load the next set of 8 missiles," an official with BrahMos said.

BrahMos Aerospace is headquartered in New Delhi with an Integration Complex in Hyderabad and Nagpur. The BrahhMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL) is another wing that operates from Kerala's capital.