Defense sources said the integration of the Brahmos with the Su-30MKI is almost complete. “Integration of the missile with the fighter jet is near completion. We have planned to test fire the missile from an aircraft in June,” said official.
Indian scientists have tested the land version of the BrahMos missile in April when it hit the target at a distance of approximately 450 kilometers (around 280 miles) in the Bay of Bengal. Apart from design modifications, the missile’s weight has also been reduced by the manufacturer to integrate with the Su-30 MKI.
“We have requests from seven countries in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East, which already have Su-30s. They keep a close eye on the ongoing trials and once we are through, we are going to have many new buyers,” Praveen Pathak, Additional GM, BrahMos Aerospace, had told Sputnik earlier.
The Indian Navy is equipping all its ships with the BrahMos missile. A hypersonic version of the BrahMos cruise missile, capable of flying at up to 5,000 kmph (around 3,100 mph), is expected to be created by 2020.
The BrahMos missile is a product of BrahMos Aerospace, which is a joint venture of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India and the NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The company was established in India in 1998 through an inter-governmental agreement between India and Russia. India holds 50.5 percent stake in the company and the rest lies with Russia. The name BrahMos is a confluence of the names of the rivers the Brahmaputra and the Moskva, respectively.
