India test-fires air-launched version of BrahMos missile

The Indian Air Force successfully test-fired an air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on October 30, 2020.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was test-fired from a Sukhoi fighter aircraft in the Bay of Bengal. The successful test displayed IAF's growing combat prowess. 

The missile hit a sinking ship with pin-point accuracy thus, producing the desired results.

Key Highlights 

•The Sukhoi fighter jet belonging to Tigersharks squadron took off from a frontline air base in Punjab. It was refueled mid-air before air launching the missile.

•The missile was fired after the Su-30 MKI aircraft covered a long distance. It had travelled for over three hours before test firing. 

•The BrahMos missile will provide the Indian Air Force with the capability to strike from large stand-off ranges at any target at sea or land with pinpoint accuracy at any time of the day in all weather conditions.

•The test-firing of the missile has come in the wake of India's tense border standoff with China along LAC in eastern Ladakh.

Other Missile Tests

•India has test-fired a number of missiles in the last two months including a new version of the surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile BrahMos and India's first indigenously developed anti-radiation weapon named Rudram-1. The Rudram-1 missile is expected to be inducted into service by 2022. 

•The range of the new surface-to-surface BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has been extended to 400 km from the original 290 km.

•The Indian Navy had also successfully test-fired a naval version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from an indigenously-built stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy in the Arabian sea on October 18, 2020. The missile had hit the target with pinpoint accuracy after being fired from a stealth destroyer, INS Chennai.

•India also previously test-fired a laser-guided anti-tank guided missile and nuclear-capable hypersonic missile 'Shaurya'.

Background

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles are being produced by BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture. The missiles can be launched from different platforms including land, aircraft and submarines and ships.

India has already inducted a decent number of the original BrahMos missiles and they have been deployed at strategic locations along India's border with China in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.