BrahMos' air version testfired from IAF's Su-20MKI, hits sea target

The Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully fired the air version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from its frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft on Tuesday.

"The launch from the aircraft was smooth and the missile followed the desired trajectory and achieved a direct hit on the sea target, off Odisha coastline," an official release said.

The air-launched BrahMos missile, designed and developed by BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL), is a 2.5-ton supersonic air to surface cruise missile with ranges close to 300 km.

The IAF became the first air force in the world to have successfully fired an air-launched Trisonic class surface attack missile of this category on a sea target on November 17 this year.

In May, the IAF had launched the missile against a land target.

"With today's testfiring, the integration of the missile on Su-30MKI aircraft, is complete. The software development and integration of weapon of the aircraft was undertaken by the IAF engineers while HAL carried out complex mechcal and electrical modifications on aircraft," the Defence Ministry said.

The dedicated and synergetic efforts of the IAF, Defence Research and Development Orgsation (DRDO), BAPL, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have made the nation proud, it added.

BrahMos missile provides Indian Air Force with a much-desired capability to strike from large stand-off ranges on any target at sea or on land with pinpoint accuracy by day or night and in all weather conditions.

( With inputs from ANI )