BHUBANESWAR: BrahMos Aerospace on Saturday successfully demonstrated the integration of world’s most formidable supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos on Su-30MKI front-line strike fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
BrahMos is a leading cruise missile capable of hitting targets beyond radar horizons. This fire-and-forget world class missile has the capability to take on targets by flying a combined high-low trajectory, thus evading enemy air defence systems.
Defence sources said the demonstration flight, carried out at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Nasik involved carriage of BrahMos weapon on the long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter, giving a major fillip to the missile’s air-launched flight test programme.
CEO and MD of BrahMos Aerospace Limited Sudhir Kumar Mishra said with the successful flight, the BrahMos air version programme now inches closer towards actual test firing when a 2.5-ton air-to-ground missile will be fired from the Sukhoi-30 soon.
Congratulating the joint team of HAL, DRDO, IAF and BrahMos Aerospace for achieving this technological feat, Mishra stated it will go down in the history as first in the world combination of supersonic cruise missile with a long range fighter aircraft.
The Indian Air Force is also elated at the enhanced firepower and range, this deadly combination of Su-30 with BrahMos will provide them. The powerful missile will enable the IAF penetrate deep inside the enemy territory to deliver a deadly blow to their vital installations from stand-off ranges. The integration brings a paradigm shift in the capability of the IAF vis-à-vis its adversaries.
A defence official said the Su-30MKI-BrahMos combination will carry out air combat operations within and beyond visibility range and will provide the IAF with the capability of attacking targets protected by powerful air defence assets.
“The flight trial has been keenly observed by several other nations in the world in possession of the Su-30MKI strike fighter who are looking towards acquiring a lethal weapon system for the Russian-made warplanes,” he informed.
Integration of BrahMos with the Su-30MKI will render the weapon a multi-platform capability while making the IAF the only Air Force in the world in procession of a supersonic cruise missile system.
Mishra hailed the contribution of Project Director of BrahMos V S N Murthy and three Deputy PDs – Group Captains M K Srivastava, S Mondal and K N Santosh for the BrahMos air version programme.
DG and Secretary of DRDO S Christopher, who continuously guided the BrahMos team to achieve the design capability of the airborne missile system and personally reviewed engineering activities, congratulated the team. HAL CMD T Suvarna Raju and CEO of HAL at Nasik Daljeet Singh were present during the test.
BrahMos missile, which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskova rivers, was developed by an Indo-Russian joint venture after the two countries signed an agreement in February 1998. The missile, having a strike range of 290-km can travel at a speed of Mach 2.8 and is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against sea and land targets.