The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully test-fired the Extended Range Version of BrahMos Air Launched missile against a ship target from a frontline SU-30MKI aircraft in the Bay of Bengal region. The extended range capability of the missile coupled with the high performance of the SU-30MKI aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate the future battlefields.

The Extended Range Version of BrahMos has the capability of striking the targets located at around 350 kilometre compared to around 290 kilometre for the initial version. An 800-km range variant of BrahMos, which is a conventional (non-nuclear) missile that flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8, is also undergoing “developmental trials” at present.

The BrahMos is a Stand-off range missile, which means it can be launched at a distance sufficient to allow the attacking party to evade defensive fire expected from the target area. The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has a two-stage solid propellant booster engine as its first stage which takes it to supersonic speed. The second stage is the liquid ramjet engine which takes it closer to Mach 3 (3 times the speed of sound) speed in the cruise phase. BrahMos is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India’s Sukhoi-30MKI fighter aircraft, which has been modified by HAL to carry these weapon systems.

The BrahMos missile is universal for multiple platforms and can be launched from air, land, and sea platforms. The missile works on the ‘Fire and Forget principle’ and maintains a high supersonic throughout the flight. The missile is said to have a low radar signature.

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

In November 2022, the Indian Army had tested a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Western Command of the Army had test fired the extended range version of the missile. The test firing of BrahMos missile comes days after India successfully test-fired nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni V from the APJ Abdul Kamal Island off Odisha coast. The Agni V can strike targets at ranges up to 5,000 kilometers.