The extended range version of BrahMos air launched missile was successfully test fired by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Thursday (Dec 29, 2022). The missile which was launched from a SU-30 MKI fighter jet against a ship, achieved the desired mission objectives.
According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) test firing took place in the Bay of Bengal region and with this the IAF has achieved “significant capability boost’’ which will help in carrying out precision strikes from the fighter jet against targets on land, sea over very long ranges and in day and night. With the extended range capability of the missile and together with high performance of SU-30 MKI fighter jets, IAF gets a strategic reach and it also allows it to dominate the future battlefields.
The synergetic efforts of IAF, Indian Navy, Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), BrahMos Aerospace (BAPL) and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), have played an instrumental role to make this test a success.
In 2017 the first live launch of the aerial version of this Indo-Russian joint venture missile was tested successfully from the frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft. The second launch was in 2019. In 2017, The Financial Express had reported that IAF was the first Air Force in the world to have successfully fired an air launched category of missile on a sea target. This is a 2.8 Mach surface attack missile.
Integrating the missile onboard the Su-30 MKI
The process of integrating the weapon on the aircraft was very complex as it involved several modifications in software, electrical and mechanical changes on the fighter aircraft. The IAF engineers undertook the software development of the SU-30 MKI and the mechanical and electrical modifications were carried out by the state owned HAL on the aircraft.