Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd. (BATL) missile plant on 15 February 2011. Accompanied by Defence Minister A K Antony and Chief Minister of Kerala, V S Achuthanandan, he went around the plant with keen interest on the missile integration procedures and was briefed on the different stages of the operation of the country’s prestigious supersonic cruise missile BRAHMOS. While CEO and Managing Director Dr A Sivathanu Pillai explained to the Prime Minister the functioning of different sections in the unit, DG Artillery Lt. Gen.Vinod Nayanar briefed him on the operational system being employed by the Army.
Witnessing a computer simulation of the missile launch and other functions of the unit, Dr Singh was impressed by the recently achieved steep dive capability of the BRAHMOS missile and was curious to know how it compared to the other missile systems in the world. Dr Pillai described to him the factors which determine the superiority of BRAHMOS over other missile systems of the world, particularly its supersonic speed and high accuracy. Dr Singh complimented the scientists and staff of BATL for their efforts in producing the BRAHMOS which has been inducted into the Army and Navy.
