IAF successfully test fires extended range version of Brahmos missile from SU-30MKI fighter

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 synergetic efforts of the IAF, Indian Navy, DRDO, Brahmos Aerospace Pvt Ltd and HAL have been instrumental in achieving this feat, the statement said.

While the Air Launched version of the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile has been tested multiple times in the recent past, the Extended Range Version which is said to have capability of striking the targets located at around 350 kilometre compared to around 290 kilometre for the initial version.

First test of the initial version of the Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile was conducted in 2017, making it a significant addition to the IAF’s operational capabilities from stand-off ranges.

Stand-off range missiles are the ones which are launched at a distance sufficient to allow the attacking party to evade defensive fire expected from the target area. For the firing of Brahmos from Sukhoi-30 MKI, the missile is gravity dropped from the fuselage of the fighter jet, and the two-stage missile’s engine is then fired up and it propels towards the intended target at the sea. Brahmos is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India’s Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft, which has been modified by HAL to carry these weapon systems.

A combination of the names of Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, BrahMos missiles are designed, developed and produced by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture company set up by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The first test launch of the initial version Brahmos took place in 2001. Various types of the BrahMos, including those which can be fired from land, warships, submarines and Sukhoi-30 fighter jets have already been developed and successfully tested and inducted since then.

Cruise missiles such as BrahMos, called “standoff range weapons”, are fired from a range far enough to allow the attacker to evade defensive counter-fire. These are in the arsenal of most major militaries in the world. The BrahMos has three times the speed, 2.5 times flight range and higher range compared to subsonic cruise missiles.