DRDO rectifying software glitch in Brahmos: Pillai

The failure of BrahMos missile during a recent test was due to a "software glitch" and the DRDO is doing a number of simulations and tests to ensure that it does not recur, A Sivathanu Pillai, CEO of BrahMos Aerospace, said today.

"We have identified software glitch as the reason for failure to accomplish the mission completely to our satisfaction. We are doing further tests and are confident of conducting a successful test soon," Pillai told reporters here.

"We are not going to keep quiet. Now we are doing a number of simulations and tests to see that such a glitch does not happen next time," he said in reply to a query.

The 290-km range supersonic cruise missile, developed jointly by India and Russia under a joint venture, failed to hit its intended target during tests in the Pokhran ranges in Rajasthan desert last month.

The development of the BrahMos was a mission "with complicated target engagements. Some targets were visible and some invisible", he said.

In this kind of tests, "a hundred per cent success has to be ensured", Pillai, who briefed media on the second phase of expansion of BrahMos Aerospace unit in the state capital, said.