<p >A new facility for the production of BrahMos cruise missiles has been opened in the capital of India’s Uttar Pradesh region, the city of Lucknow, as part of efforts to facilitate a more rapid equipping of the Indian Armed Forces with the missiles. Designated the BrahMos Manufacturing Centre, the facility was designed with an annual capacity of 80 to 100 missiles, and alongside assembly and the production of aerospace-grade materials, it will also handing the missiles’ testing and integration. Commenting on the opening, the Indian Ministry of Defence announced that the new facility “represents India’s commitment to self-reliant defence manufacturing.” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who&nbsp;inaugurated the facility virtually,&nbsp;elaborated regarding its significance: “This is not just a weapon; it is a message in itself – a message of the strength of our armed forces, a message of deterrence to our adversaries, and a message of our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our borders.” The facility will specifically manufacture the&nbsp;new&nbsp;BrahMos Next Generation variant, which is shorter and lighter than the original with a weight reduction of close to 50 percent, while maintaining its 290 kilometre range and Mach 3.5 speed. The new variant is the first to use an electronically scanned array radar, and has a reduced radar cross section to reduce adversaries’ warning times and complicate possible interception efforts. The production of this new variant marks a major milestone in the BrahMos program.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/25/article_68331042480383_54492397.webp" title="BrahMos Cruise Missiles on Parade"></p><p >The BrahMos was jointly developed by Russia and India under the firm BrahMos Aerospace, in which the two governments own respective 49.5 percent and 50.5 percent stakes. The missile is a close derivative of the Russian P-800, and benefits from a maximum speed of over Mach 3, and an advanced precision guidance system allowing it to engage mobile maritime and land targets. Following its deployment from ground based launchers and from Indian Navy surface combatants, an air-launched variant of the BrahMos&nbsp; <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/serious-threat-to-china-india-s-powerful-brahmos-cruise-missile-gets-combat-clearance-amid-standoff" target="_blank">received</a> its first fleet release clearance on June 10, 2020. The missile can be carried by India’s heaviest fighter class, <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/india-su30mki-20-years-how-capable" target="_blank">the Su-30MKI</a>, of which a very large fleet of over 270 is currently operational. The value of the missile has fuelled calls in the country to increase procurement of the Su-30s specifically to expand the number of squadrons equipped with them. The missiles are considered particularly potent in anti-shipping roles, and can reportedly tear medium sized warships in half with a single direct hit due to the sheer speeds at which they impact.</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/25/article_6833108014da70_77351455.png" title="Launch of Russian P-800 Cruise Missile"></p><p >While the BrahMos has been incrementally modernised, Russia and India are jointly developing at least two entirely new cruise missile classes under similar joint programs, which are intended to facilitate engagements at hypersonic speeds. The first of these is a hypersonic cruise missile, which will likely derive many of its technologies from the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/first-look-zircon-hypersonic-cruise-missile" target="_blank">Russian Zircon</a>. The second <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-and-india-to-develop-hypersonic-awacs-killer-missile-for-su-30mki-fighters" target="_blank">more unusual program</a> will see a hypersonic very long range air-to-air missile developed for the Su-30, which is expected to be the largest in the world and to use satellite guidance to facilitate targeting at ranges of over 500 kilometres. The latter program is expected to benefit from Russia’s experience developing the R-37M oversized air-to-air missile, which has a 400 kilometre range. Russia is itself developing a separate successor to the R-37M, which will reportedly derive many of its technologies from the <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-combat-tests-s400-400km-pairing-a50" target="_blank">40N6 surface-to-air missile </a>used by the S-400 and <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-first-regiment-s500-long-range-air-defence" target="_blank">S-500 long range air defence</a> systems. While cruise missiles produced in Russia have seen their client bases limited, as states have&nbsp; consistently been deterred from making procurements due to <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/serbia-s400-nato-stopped-caatsa" target="_blank">threats of Western economic sanctions</a> and other forms of retaliation, the BrahMos has been able to gain interest from clients such as the Philippines which would not usually be able to consider purchasing from Russia directly. A portion of the revenues from such sales will nevertheless still go to the Russian state due to its high stake in&nbsp;BrahMos Aerospace.</p>
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