The defence ministry signed three contracts worth ₹19,600 crore with domestic shipyards for 11 next-generation offshore patrol vessels and six next-generation missile vessels, and another one worth ₹1,700 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) for a fire control system to boost the navy’s capabilities.

It also signed a ₹8,160-crore contract with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for improved Akash surface-to-air missiles for the army, and another one worth ₹990 crore with BEL for Swathi weapon locating radars, also for the army.

The sixth contract of the day was signed with BrahMos Aerospace for next-generation maritime mobile coastal batteries (long range) and BrahMos missiles for ₹1,700 crore.

The offshore patrol vessels are being bought from Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, for ₹9,781 crore, while the missile vessels will be supplied by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for ₹9,805 crore.

The latest deals come a day after the ministry signed three contracts worth ₹5,400 crore for an advanced communication satellite, GSAT 7B, for the army, an automated air defence control and reporting system for the army’s air defence units, and Sarang electronic support measure systems for navy helicopters.

The ministry has signed contracts worth almost ₹52,000 crore (including the deals signed on Thursday) in the last four weeks for indigenous military hardware, including basic trainer aircraft, cadet training ships, medium-power radars, radar warning receivers and Dornier aircraft.

“Of the 11 offshore patrol vessels, seven will be indigenously designed, developed and manufactured by GSL and four by GRSE. The delivery of the ships is scheduled to commence from September 2026…and the missile vessels from March 2027,” the ministry said in a statement.

It elaborated on the capabilities the platforms ships will bring to the navy.

The offshore patrol vessels will enable the navy to maintain its combat capability and meet various operational requirements including anti-piracy, counter-infiltration, anti-poaching, anti-trafficking, non-combatant evacuation operations, and search and rescue.

The construction of these ships will generate an employment of 110 lakh man-days over seven-and-a-half years, the ministry said.

The heavily-armed missile vessels will come with stealth, high speed and offensive capability, and their primary role will be to provide offensive capability against enemy warships and land targets.

“These ships will be capable of conducting maritime strike operations, anti-surface warfare operations and would be a potent instrument of sea denial for enemy ships especially at choke points,” the ministry said. The construction of these ships will generate an employment of 45 lakh man-days over nine years.

The contract with BDL for improved Akash weapon system (AWS) is for the army’s Army Air Defence’s third and fourth regiments. “In order to meet aerial threats, two additional regiments of AWS with upgradation are being procured for Indian Army for the northern borders (with China),” the ministry said in another statement.

“The project will give a boost to the Indian missile manufacturing industry in particular and the indigenous defence manufacturing ecosystem as a whole. It has an overall indigenous content of 82% which will be increased to 93% by 2026-27.”

On the weapon locating radars, the ministry said the system is capable of locating hostile guns, mortars and rockets, and facilitating their destruction through counter bombardment. “This will enable troops to carry out their operational tasks without any interference from the enemy and also provide them safety against enemy fire. Induction is planned to be completed in 24 months.”

The Lynx-U2 system fire control system ordered for the navy is capable of accurately tracking and engaging targets amid sea clutter as well as air/surface targets, the ministry said in a separate statement.

It will be installed on offshore patrol vessels to be built at GRSE, and GSL. This latest order for BEL will generate an employment of 200,000 man-days over the next four years, the statement added.

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“Providing further impetus to atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in defence production, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) signed a contract with BAPL for acquisition of additional dual-role capable surface-to-surface BrahMos missiles at an overall approximate cost of Rs 1,700 crore under the ‘buy-Indian’ category. Induction of these dual-role capable missiles is going to significantly enhance the operational capability of Indian Navy fleet assets,” said a statement from the MoD.

A combination of the names of Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, BrahMos missiles are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The first test launch of the initial version of Brahmos took place in 2001. Various types of the BrahMos, including those which can be fired from land, warships and the Sukhoi-30 fighter jets, have already been developed and successfully tested and inducted since then.

The MoD further said: “It is notable that BAPL is making crucial contribution to augment the new generation surface-to-surface missiles with enhanced range and dual-role capability for land as well as anti-ship attacks. This contract is going to give further boost to indigenous production of critical weapon system and ammunition with active participation of indigenous industry.”

BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine. Its first stage brings the missile to supersonic speed and then gets separated. The liquid ramjet or the second stage then takes the missile closer to three times the speed of sound in cruise phase. The missile has a very low radar signature, making it stealthy, and can achieve a variety of trajectories. The ‘fire and forget’ type missile can achieve a cruising altitude of 15 km and a terminal altitude as low as 10m to hit the target. The enhanced range version of the missile has a range of 4,000km, as compared to the original range of 290km.

Cruise missiles such as BrahMos, called ‘standoff range weapons’, which are fired from a range far enough to allow the attacker to evade defensive fire from the adversary. These weapons are in the arsenal of most major militaries in the world.

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The inquiry into the March 9 incident was done by Assistant Chief of Air Staff Operations (Offensive) Air Vice Marshal RK Sinha where during routine maintenance and inspection, a BrahMos missile got fired accidentally and landed up in the Mian Channu area of Pakistan.

“More than one official has been found blameworthy for the incident which was totally avoidable. The guilty officials would be given a swift and severe punishment,” government sources told ANI.

The court of inquiry also found a clear violation of standard operating procedures by the officials concerned, they said.

The government and Indian Air Force top brass are of the view that the punishment should be quick and not allowed to prolong which has happened in many cases earlier, sources said.

The inquiry also brought out the role of an official in controlling the situation after the missile got launched accidentally.

The IAF official probing the incident was asked to complete the inquiry into the incident in the earliest possible timeframe as accountability of officials had to be fixed for the mishap which could have caused much more damage.

Indian Air Force has taken the incident very seriously and taking every step internally to ensure that such incidents don’t occur in future and various standard operating procedures are being reviewed to see if there is any change required to make things smoother, the sources said.

The Defence Ministry has also been briefed about the inquiry committee report and further action is expected in the next few weeks, sources said.

After the incident happened and countries including Pakistan tried to rake up the issue at international fora, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh assured Parliament that the missile system is very reliable and safe. “Moreover, our safety procedures and protocols are of the highest order and are reviewed from time to time. Our Armed Forces are well-trained and disciplined and are well experienced in handling such systems,” he said.

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On 10 March, Pakistan’s Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) alleged in a press conference that Pakistan’s Air Defence Operations Centre had on the evening of 9 March picked up a high-speed flying object that had been launched from near Sirsa (Haryana). The object initially seemed to be heading towards Mahajan Field Firing Ranges (MFFR), but after 70-80 kilometres, it suddenly turned towards Pakistan, flew at speeds up to Mach 3 and reached an altitude of 40,000 feet, travelled 124 km inside Pakistan and finally landed at Mian Channu, Khanewal district (northwest of Multan), damaging three houses. It also said that Pakistan had recovered the debris and was examining it.

On 11 March, Pakistan summoned India’s Charge d’Affaires and officially voiced “strong condemnation of this blatant violation of Pakistani airspace”, after which India admitted that on 9 March, it had accidentally fired a missile that landed in Pakistan and that it “deeply regretted” the incident. It added that the accident occurred due to a technical malfunction during a routine maintenance check and that the government had “taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of enquiry”.

Reports suggested that an inspection and protocol revision was being carried out at a secret satellite base. The missile followed the correct trajectory and also ruled out speculation about the launch being part of an actual firing test. No NOTAM issued. A NOTAM or notice to airmen is a warning issued to alert pilots of potential hazards on a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight.

Missile trials do not take place in the Field Firing Ranges in the west. All trials are held on the eastern flank and from the Andaman and Nicobar Command.

India Regrets Accidental Firing

Noting that the incident was regrettable, a statement by the Ministry of Defence said on 11 March, “The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level court of enquiry”.

The statement also said that the missile had entered Pakistan from India on 9 March due to “accidental firing” caused by “a technical malfunction” in the “course of routine maintenance”.

Likely to be BrahMos

From the tracking data (particularly the speed, altitude reached) released by Pakistan’s DG ISPR and the pictures available, it seems fairly certain that the object was India’s supersonic BrahMos cruise missile. Perhaps the latter was being updated with targeting data, or its systems were being tested for full-functionality, and it got fired inadvertently. Or as some reports suggested it was a training inert version of the missile.

There was speculation that India had deliberately fired the missile to test Pakistan’s missile defence readiness. This theory does not seem plausible since it would risk the latest weapon falling into inimical hands.

Human Errors

The incident showed India’s handling of its strategic weapons and launch protocols in poor light. Given the long-running tensions between India and Pakistan, this inadvertent launch could have easily led to a rapid escalation to nuclear levels.

The timings provided by Pakistan show that the Indian missile was airborne for about seven minutes before its impact near Mian Channu and could have easily been misconstrued as an Indian pre-emptive strike on a Pakistani strategic facility – Multan is one of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons sites.

What is surprising is that the missile system has several mechanical and software safety mechanisms to prevent any kind of accidental firing. The missile has multiple geo-locations of targets fed into the system, which need to be selected or new ones added. There are also multiple steps of clearance, including the entry of certain codes before the countdown starts, after which the missile goes into auto mode.

Pak Air Defence Failed

The statement by Pakistan Air Force spokesperson Air Vice Mshl Tariq Zia on 10 March saying, “the projectile travelled 124 kilometres inside Pakistani territory in three minutes and 44 seconds” showed that the country’s air defence did not work against the missile.

While the incident had occurred on 9 March evening, Maj Gen Iftikhar held his press conference next day, more than 24 hours after the missile landed, which also went against Pakistan’s claim of having tracked it from the time of its launch.

Pakistan’s also sought details of the missile’s flight path/ trajectory, and how it ultimately turned and entered the country.

Pakistan Questions India’s Ability

Pakistan’s National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf questioned India’s ability to handle sensitive technologies and called for an investigation into its “inadvertent” launch of a missile that landed in Pakistan. Yusuf said in a series of tweets that the Indian government did not bother to inform Pakistan about the incident.

He said that the missile had travelled close to the path of international and domestic airlines and threatened the safety of civilians. He also called out the Indian authorities for not informing Pakistan immediately that an “inadvertent launch of a cruise missile had taken place”.

He regretted that Pakistan’s repeated calls urging the world to take notice of “India’s irresponsible behaviour” had been ignored and New Delhi continued to pose a threat to regional stability.

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