New Delhi to Fit 6 Warships With Russia-India Made Missiles in $400Mln Deal

The Indian Defense Ministry decided to spend over $400 million on equipping six new warships with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — The Indian Defense Ministry has decided to spend over $400 million on equipping six new warships with BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, produced jointly with Russia, IANS news agency reported Thursday.

This decision was made late on Wednesday at a regular meeting of the country’s Defense Acquisition Council under Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar.

The BrahMos anti-ship missiles, worth some 27 billion rupees ($425 million), will be used to outfit three of India’s six Talwar-class frigates and three Delhi-class destroyers, all built in collaboration with Russia.

Indian-Russian cooperation on defense technologies has evolved beyond a simple buyer-seller relationship in recent years to become one of collaborative research, design and production.

Production of the supersonic anti-ship missile BrahMos is an example of such collaboration. The missile has a range of 290 kilometers (180 miles) and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds).