New Delhi: ThePrint has learned that the Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to increase the number of Sukhoi 30 (Su-30) MKI fighter jets integrated with the BrahMos supersonic missile, which now has a range of over 500 km.
Sources in the defense and security establishment said that the IAF currently has 40 SU-30 MKIs with BrahMos, the world’s only supersonic cruise missile. Sources in the Defense and Security Establishment also said that the range of the missile was earlier 290 km, but it has been increased to over 500 km.
The range of BrahMos launched from land is about 400 km and work too To increase its range to 800- and 1,500-km.
The sources also said that the missile, with its exceptional accuracy, has been a true surprise for the IAF.
“In each test, the missile hit the ground target with a maximum margin of 10 metres. When the IAF fired at a ship, the missile hit the ship in the center,” said a source.
Indian Air Force commission 222 ‘Tiger Shark’ Squadron of BrahMos-equipped Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jets at Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu in August 2020. This was the first time that the fourth generation air dominance fighters were excluded from Southern Air Command. Considering the sea attack capability of the Su-30s, the IAF had taken this step to enhance the Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean region.
The decision to deploy Sukhoi-30 MKI in Thanjavur was also taken due to its strategic location. Tiger Shark Squadron has 18 fighter aircraft, of which around six are equipped with BrahMos.
In all, the IAF has 40 Sukhois equipped with BrahMos and these are spread over the country’s western border with Pakistan and its eastern border with China.
Difficult to intercept BrahMos with surface-to-air missiles
Unlike land-launched, the air version of BrahMos gives military planners more options to hit deeper targets that would otherwise be out of range. This is because the Sukhoi has a range of 1,500 km and can therefore hit long-range targets with a cruise missile.
The IAF had tested the missile’s extended range in May.
one is active #zone Alarm For the region near Andaman Islands – #Indian Air Force Air-to-surface missile firing between 11-13 May 2022, the route from north to south is about 490 km. belongs to https://t.co/SLphNtROIl pic.twitter.com/XGPSrt7L2g
— Damien Simon (@detresfa_) 12 May 2022
The Navy also has integrated BrahMos missiles with a certain class of its warships.
Sources said that some software changes were made to increase the range of the missile and it was done with the help of Russia.
BrahMos missiles are manufactured in India under a joint venture that was formed in 1998 between Defense Research and Development Organization of India and NPO Mashinostroyeniya of Russia.
The name Brahmos is a portmanteau of the names of two rivers – the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
The missile has a maximum speed of Mach 2.8 (about 3,450 km/h or 2,148 mph), and is currently difficult to intercept by surface-to-air missiles deployed from warships around the world. It also has immense capability to evade radar.
The missile can have a cruising altitude of up to 15 km, and is the lowest it can fly 10 m above the surface and is capable of carrying a conventional (non-nuclear) warhead weighing 200–300 kg.
Read also: Mirage, MiG 29, Jaguar to be phased out by 2035, IAF wants more aircraft