Uttar Pradesh, riding on the momentum of the ‘double-engine’ government, is playing a pivotal role in reshaping India’s global identity in the field of defence and security.
On the outskirts of the state capital, a state-of-the-art BrahMos Aerospace Integration and Testing Facility, spanning 200 acres, is witnessing the continuous production of India’s most powerful missile system.
The growing global demand for the BrahMos missile has led to a steady stream of export orders to the Government of India, with Uttar Pradesh emerging as a key manufacturing hub in meeting these commitments.
How The Journey Began
Uttar Pradesh’s entry into the defence manufacturing ecosystem began in 2018, when the Yogi Adityanath government offered 200 acres of land along the Lucknow–Kanpur highway under the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC).
At the time, pressure was mounting on existing India-based manufacturing units of BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between DRDO (50.5%) and Russia’s NPOM (40.5%), as international orders continued to rise.
The Philippines has already received its first missile battery under a $375 million deal. Subsequently, countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Argentina, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have lined up for BrahMos missile systems.
By 2025, BrahMos Aerospace had secured confirmed orders for over 800 missiles for the next five years, a demand that existing facilities were unable to fulfil. This led the Government of India to establish the next BrahMos production facility in Uttar Pradesh.
Capabilities, Capacity And The Next Generation
All variants of the BrahMos family are being produced with ranges of up to 290 km for land-based systems and up to 600 km for air-launched versions. The annual production target at the facility is 80 to 100 missiles.
The facility was inaugurated virtually on May 11 this year by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. He stated that the centre was conceived with a clear and powerful objective: to meet the rising domestic and international demand for the BrahMos weapon system.
Constructed at a cost of approximately ₹380 crore, the complex has been developed as a ‘city within a city.’ It houses a large integration hall, a booster production block, a warhead mating facility, a long high-speed sled track for subsystem validation, and environmentally controlled pre-entry inspection chambers.
While the Lucknow plant will continue producing existing BrahMos missiles to meet immediate demand, its distinctive focus is on manufacturing the BrahMos NG (Next Generation) missile.
The BrahMos NG will have a strike range of 300 km, comparable to the current version, but will be significantly lighter—around 1.2 tonnes compared to the existing 2,900 kg—marking a major technological advancement in India’s missile programme.
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