India-Vietnam BrahMos deal in final stages, says CEO Jaiteerth Joshi

Weeks after Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said that India and Vietnam have signed a deal for the sale of BrahMos missiles, the company has clarified that the deal is still under negotiations and they still need to get relevant clearances to finalise it.

"Export negotiations are in almost final stages with Vietnam, with only minor clearances remaining before finalisation. We are in talks with several other countries in both eastern and eastern regions. Once the government approval comes, we will come out on the open forum," BrahMos Aerospace CEO Jaiteerth Joshi said.

After reaching an export deal with the Philippines, India is currently in talks with Vietnam and Indonesia for the sale of BrahMos missiles. Other countries, such as Cyprus, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, have also shown interest in buying the missile, according to reports.

The remarks come after Singh last month said that India and Vietnam had signed the deal for the sale of BrahMos missiles.

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"My understanding is that with both Indonesia and with Vietnam, the deal is in the final stages. In fact, for Vietnam, I understand that it has already been signed, probably not publicly announced, but it's already been signed," Singh said at the time.

BrahMos is a nuclear-capable short-range supersonic missile developed jointly by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture with Russia in which India holds the majority stake. The missile can be launched from the land, sea, air, and under the water, and is critical to India's nuclear triad.

Joshi said the company is working on variants of the missile, such as stealthier BrahMos-NG and extended-range variants. He said the research is also focused on lighter designs using composite materials.

Joshi further said that final specifications for these variants will be determined after design validation and simulation studies are completed.