The Nagpur district court on Monday handed life imprisonment to former BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd engineer Nishant Agarwal under the Official Secrets Act for spying for Pakistan's intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
BrahMos is unique among cruise missiles due to its 2.8 Mach supersonic speed (all other cruise missiles are sub-sonic at present) and much-longer strike range.
Before Data Patterns developed an indigenous check-out equipment, Brahmos Aerospace was paying a Russian supplier three times what it will now pay the Indian company.
The missile was launched from a mobile autonomous launcher at 11.45 am and it successfully flew in its pre-set trajectory 'fulfilling its mission objectives', the ministry said.
The fleet of 40 Sukhoi jet will undergo structural modifications at the state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd for integration of the missile on them.
Nishant Agrawal was nabbed in a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) at BrahMos' Wardha Road facility, an ATS official said.
It was for the first time that the missile, capable of travelling at speeds of up to Mach 3.0, or three times the speed of sound, was tested with indigenously developed 'seeker' technology.
Agrawal was arrested on Monday in a joint operation by the ATS units of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra police at BrahMos' Wardha Road facility for allegedly leaking "technical information" to Pakistan.
The missile hit a sea-based target in the Bay of Bengal from the combat jet.
Integrating supersonic missile with Sukhoi requires about $50 million; engine modifications, so many works given to Russians.
Integrating supersonic missile with Sukhoi requires about $50 million; engine modifications, so many works given to Russians.
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