IAF successfully tests an extended-range variant of the Brahmos missile launched from an SU-30MKI aircraft.
Thursday, the Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully conducted a test launch of the Extended Range Version of Brahmos Air Launched missile against a ship target from a frontline SU-30MKI aircraft. According to the force, the first test of the Brahmos Air Launched missile’s increased range was conducted on May 12 of this year.
Thursday’s IAF statement read, “The missile successfully completed its mission objectives in the Bay of Bengal region.” With this, the IAF has significantly improved its capacity to carry out very long-range precise strikes from SU-30MKI aircraft against land or marine targets. The expanded range capability of the missile and the great performance of the SU-30MKI aircraft provide the IAF with strategic reach and enable it to dominate future battlefields.
The IAF successfully fired the Extended Range Version of the Brahmos Air Launched missile. Carrying out a precision strike against a Ship target from a Su-30 MKI aircraft in the Bay of Bengal region, the missile achieved the desired mission objectives. pic.twitter.com/fiLX48ilhv
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 29, 2022
The dedicated and collaborative efforts of the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Defense Research and Development Organization, Brahmos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited were important in attaining this achievement, according to the statement.
While the Air Launched version of the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile has been tested numerous times in recent years, the Extended Range Version is reported to be capable of reaching targets located at approximately 350 kilometres, as opposed to approximately 290 kilometres for the initial version.
In 2017, the first test of the basic version of the Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile was completed, adding significantly to the IAF’s operational capabilities at extended ranges.
Stand-off range missiles are those that are launched from a sufficient distance to allow the attacking party to avoid anticipated defensive fire from the target area. Brahmos is launched from a Sukhoi-30 MKI by gravity-dropping the missile from the fighter jet’s fuselage. The two-stage missile’s engine is then ignited and it is propelled towards its targeted target in the ocean. Brahmos is the largest missile system to be deployed on India’s Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft, which HAL has adapted to handle these weapon systems.
BrahMos missiles, a portmanteau of the names of the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, are designed, developed, and manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture corporation established by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. In 2001, the first test launch of the first version of Brahmos occurred. Since then, other versions of BrahMos, including those that can be fired from land, warships, submarines, and Sukhoi-30 fighter planes, have been created, tested, and implemented.
Cruise missiles, such as BrahMos, are referred to as “standoff range weapons” because they are launched at a distance that allows the attacker to avoid defensive counterfire. These are in the arsenals of the majority of the world’s major military. BrahMos cruise missiles have three times the speed, 2.5 times the flying range, and a greater range than subsonic cruise missiles.
