Brahmos test fired from Sukhoi fighter jet for first time

The Indian Air Force on Wednesday added one more weapon in its arsenal with the successful firing of a long range Brahmos cruise missile from its front line Su-30MKI fighter aircraft, hitting a target in the Bay of Bengal.

The 2.5 tonnes missile with range of more than 400 km is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India's Su-30 combat jets modified by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to carry the weapon. The missile flew with a speed of 2.8 Mach (2.8 times the speed of the sound) and hit the target ship cleanly.

"India creates a world record and completes supersonic cruise missile triad with the ability to launch from the sea, land and air," said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

The missile was gravity-dropped from the fuselage of a Su-30 MKI aircraft that took off from Kalaikunda air base.

After few seconds of free fall, the two stage missile's engine fired up and straight way propelled towards the intended target off Chandipur in the Bay of Bengal.

Brahmos was gravity-dropped to provide few critical seconds to the pilot in a war scenario so that he can leave the spot immediately after releasing the missile to escape the counter-attack from the enemy.

"The missile provides the IAF a much desired capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target, be in sea, or land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions," the IAF said in a statement.

The capability of the missile coupled with the superlative performance of the Su-30 aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate the ocean and the battle field, it adds.

At least five successful Su-30 firing of Brahmos are required before the missile would be ready for induction in the IAF.

Brahmos cruise missile was originally developed for the Navy through an India-Russia joint venture involving DRDO and NPOM. The missile's range was kept at 290 km because of the restrictions under the missile technology control regime.