Lucknow is a city shaped by history, of nawabs, poets, revolts, and resilience. Today, it is witnessing the rise of something entirely new. On the outskirts of the city, a powerful force is taking shape that will redefine India’s strength in the skies, seas, and on land. This is not just a factory. Spread across 200 acres, the BrahMos Aerospace Integration and Testing Facility is where India’s most powerful conventional weapon—the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile—is being built, assembled, and tested.
The Making of a Supersonic Citadel
The journey began in 2018 when the Uttar Pradesh government allotted 200 acres of land along the Lucknow–Kanpur highway under the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC).
BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL)—a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya—had outgrown its existing facilities in Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Pilani, and Nagpur.
Demand was rising rapidly. The Indian Navy needed more ship- and submarine-launched missiles, the Air Force was integrating air-launched versions on Su-30 MKI jets, and the Army required longer-range land variants. At the same time, export enquiries were turning into confirmed deals.
The Philippines had already received its first BrahMos missile battery in 2024 under a USD 375 million agreement. Talks were underway with countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Argentina, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. By 2025, firm orders crossed 800 missiles for the next five years, making expansion unavoidable. That is how Lucknow became the new hub.
Inauguration and Start of Production
Built at a cost of around Rs 380 crore, the facility was virtually inaugurated on May 11 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. It is the flagship project of the UP Defence Industrial Corridor and aims to meet growing domestic and global demand for BrahMos missiles.
An official said the facility’s strategic location provides excellent connectivity to national freight corridors, ensuring fast and efficient delivery to any part of the country.
On October 18, Rajnath Singh, along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, DRDO Chairman Samir V Kamat, and BrahMos DG Jaytirth R Joshi, flagged off the first batch of missiles for the Indian Armed Forces. This marked a major shift, proving that advanced defence manufacturing is no longer limited to coastal or traditional industrial centres.
What’s Inside the Facility
The Lucknow campus has been designed as a “city within a city”, offering complete end-to-end missile integration and testing. It includes:
- Large missile integration halls
- A booster production unit
- A warhead mating facility
- A long high-speed sled track for testing subsystems
- A climate-controlled pre-dispatch inspection bay similar to a cleanroom
All variants of the BrahMos missile—from the original 290 km range versions to the 600 km extended-range missile and the upcoming BrahMos-NG—will be produced here.
The Human Engine Behind the Ramjet
Around 300–500 people currently work directly at the Lucknow unit, but its impact goes much further.
A senior BrahMos official explained that missile production depends on a wide ecosystem involving advanced materials, electronics, chemicals, rubber, precision engineering, welding, and machining. BrahMos currently works with over 200 public and private sector partners across India.
With demand growing, the Lucknow facility will help onboard more MSMEs and manufacturers, especially from Uttar Pradesh. Proximity allows better monitoring, faster production cycles, and improved quality.
The company is actively scouting new vendors in and around Lucknow to meet future production goals.
Merit, Skill, and Opportunity
BrahMos Aerospace follows a strict merit-based hiring policy. There is no regional quota—only skill and excellence matter.
Engineers are recruited through national-level processes and top campus placements. Candidates must clear technical tests, multiple interviews, and strict security checks.
A strong academic background in aerospace, mechanical engineering, electronics, or computer science is essential. The jobs are highly competitive, but they offer a chance to work on one of the world’s most advanced missile systems.
The Numbers That Matter
- Annual production target: 80–100 missiles
- Expected revenue by FY 2027–28: Rs 3,000 crore
- GST from one missile: Around Rs 8 crore
- On October 18, BrahMos handed over a GST cheque of about Rs 40 crore to the UP government
- Export talks: Ongoing with around 12 countries
- Indigenous content: 83% currently, expected to rise to 85% by 2026
Indian companies supply key components such as titanium castings, rocket boosters, airframes, avionics, and electronics, with support from more than 200 MSMEs.
The Next Frontier: BrahMos-NG
While the Lucknow unit will continue producing existing BrahMos missiles, its main future focus is the BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) missile.
The NG version will have a 300 km range, similar to the current missile, but will weigh just 1.2 tonnes, compared to the existing 2.9 tonnes.
This lighter design will allow fighter jets like the Su-30 to carry multiple missiles instead of just one, and land and naval platforms to deploy more missiles in the same space. This improves efficiency, reduces costs, and ensures faster replenishment for the armed forces. The Lucknow facility will be the birthplace of this next-generation weapon.
A New Centre of Power
An official summed it up by saying that the BrahMos Integration and Testing Facility is a world-class manufacturing hub designed to build, assemble, and integrate all BrahMos variants. It will also lead the production of the next-generation missile in the years ahead. With this facility, Lucknow has firmly placed itself on India’s defence and strategic map.
