IAF Displays Strength, Successfully Test Fires Air-Launched Version Of BrahMos Missile From Sukhoi Jet

The missile hit a sinking ship in the Bay of Bengal with accuracy, official sources said. It was fired after the Su-30 MKI aircraft travelled for over three hours

File Photo (PTI)

The Indian Air Force displayed its combat strength after it successfully test-fired an air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi fighter aircraft in the Bay of Bengal, official sources said. The aircraft had taken off from an airbase in Punjab & reached the Bay of Bengal after mid-air refueling. This is the second such successful test of the missile, government sources were quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The development is significant as it is the longest range BrahMos strike that was undertaken by the Sukhoi 30 MKI platform. The missile hit a sinking ship with deadly accuracy and the test-firing produced desired results, they said. South India got its first Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron in January this year. "The integration of the air-launched version of the BrahMos missile with the SU-30MKI fighter has been done fully indigenously by BrahMos Aerospace, HAL, and the Air Force," Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria had said while inducting the squadron.

On October 18, the Indian Navy testfired the missile

With a range of 300 km, the air-launched version of BrahMos has the capability to hit targets at sea or land in all weather conditions. On October 18, the supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired from the Indian Navy’s indigenously-built stealth destroyer INS Chennai, hitting a target in the Arabian Sea. "The missile hit the target successfully with pinpoint accuracy," the DRDO had said. In the last two months, India has test-fired a number of missiles including a new version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos and an anti-radiation missile named Rudram-1. The Rudram-1 is planned to be inducted into service by 2022.