The Indian Air Force (IAF) continues to demonstrate the capabilities of the Brahmos-A (air-launched) supersonic cruise missile, claiming that the missile conducted a successful live-fire test aboard an IAF Sukhoi Su-30 MKI multirole fighter jet in the eastern seas April 19 coastal.
“The missile hit the target directly, a retired Indian Navy ship,” the Indian Air Force announced on its social media account on the same day, noting that the mission was carried out in close coordination with the Navy.
BrahMos-A will not be approved for mass production until December 8, 2021, after successful trials at the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) integrated proving ground.
Following a captive transport test in 2020, the Indian Air Force conducted extensive flight tests of the missile between November 2017 and July 2021. In the same year, the first Brahmos-A Sukhoi Su-30 MKI squadron was commissioned.
Brahmos-A is a two-stage missile that is 8.3 meters long and weighs about 2.5 tons, derived from the naval and land-based baseline systems that entered service about a decade ago. It uses a solid-fuel rocket at launch and uses an air-breathing liquid-fuel ramjet, which enables it to reach speeds of up to Mach 2.8 and has a maximum range of 300 kilometers.
The missile was developed by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture established in February 1998 by DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) with an initial capital of $250 million, with India owning 50.5% and Russia the remainder 49.5%.
The company is also developing a light variant of the air-launched BRAHMOS called the Brahmos NG for the Tejas Mk 1A light fighter (LCA) and the hypersonic Brahmos II. It is understood that submarine-launched variants are also being tested.
However, the joint venture could be affected by Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine, with growing international pressure and Western sanctions on countries that maintain commercial and military ties and trade with Moscow. For its part, India has been actively developing indigenous components for the BrahMos missile for years, which could help alleviate potential component supply issues in the long run.
