Surface-to-air missiles gain interest of various nations, says DRDO Chairman

Department of Defence Research and Development Secretary and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Chairman, Dr. G Satheesh Reddy has said that the surface-to-air missiles have gained the interest of various nations, adding that more systems with export potential are being developed in the country.

"Surface to air missile Akash, Astra missile, anti-tank missiles, radars, torpedoes have gained the interest of various nations. Lot more systems are being developed which are advanced technology in nature and have export potential," Reddy told ANI.

He also expressed confidence that in the coming years, India will witness an increase in the export of indigenously developed technologies and said, "In the coming year, we will have a lot of exports from India of the technologies developed here."

Reddy's statement comes after India signed a deal worth USD 375 million to supply 290 km strike range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to the Philippines.

He also said that it is the first order for export of the BrahMos missile system and termed it as a "major development."

"BrahMos is a giant venture of DRDO. This giant venture has developed the supersonic cruise missile 'BrahMos'. It has been inducted into the Indian Armed Forces," Reddy said.

"It is the beginning and we expect that many more export orders will come in the future," he added.

Emphasizing that it is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of developing advanced technologies indigenously, Reddy added, "PM Modi has been setting goals on developing very advanced technologies and systems and we should be exporting a lot to the world. So, there are many systems that are being developed which have a lot of export potential."

(ANI)