At least 25-30 Russian-built Su-30MKI IAF fighter jets will be equipped with extended range BrahMos missiles, Indian media reported.
The extended range of the missile allows it to hit any designated target at a distance of approximately 500 km with a precision strike.
The decision to arm multi-role fighters with the new range of the air-launched version of BrahMos comes following a successful test in May.
“In the last many years, we have been upgrading the Su-30 with indigenous weapons like the Astra air-to-air missile and the BrahMos missiles. The sensors are also indigenous, and we have been doing it indigenously,” IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal Sandeep Singh said on Friday during a media briefing.
The IAF official added that some of the extended range versions of the BrahMos have been fitted onto Su-30 MKI warplanes with structural, mechanical, and software modifications at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s Nashik facility.
The 2.55 ton missile is designed for a release from a Su-30MKI at heights varying from 500-14,000 meters (1,640-46,000 ft.).
The length of the air-launched version of Indo-Russian jointly developed BrahMos is 50 cm shorter than the 8.4-m length of the ground-launched variant.
Following the successful firing of the extended range of BrahMos in May, the IAF said that it has achieved the capability to carry out precision strikes from Su-30MKI aircraft against a land/ sea target over very long ranges.
“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 force underlined.
The Indian Air Force has already equipped 42 Su-30MKI aircraft with BrahMos missiles. In January 2020, the IAF commissioned the BrahMos armed multirole Su-30MKI squadron, the “222 Tigersharks” in southern India to boost its capability in the Indian Ocean Region.