Johnson Cherian.
In a milestone, a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was on Wednesday fired succesfully for the first time from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force.
“The successful maiden test-firing of Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) from Su-30MKI will significantly bolster the IAF’s air combat operations capability from stand-off ranges,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
The missile was gravity dropped from the Su-30MKI from its fuselage, and the two-stage missile’s engine fired up and was propelled towards the intended target in the Bay of Bengal.
Brahmos ALCM, which weighs 2.5 tonnes, is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India’s Su-30 fighter aircraft. It has a range of 290 km.
Completes tactical cruise missile triad
“Brahmos, the world class weapon with multi-platform, multi-mission role is now capable of being launched from land, sea and air, completing the tactical cruise missile triad for India,” the statement noted.
The land and sea variants of Brahmos are already operational with the Army and the Navy. Recently, the range variants were upgraded from 290 km to 450 km after India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
BrahMos is a joint venture between India and Russia and named after the Brahmaputra and Moscowa rivers.
