NEW DELHI, ($1= Indian Rupees) — On April 19, the Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter conducted a successful test of the Russian-Indian stealth missile with medium-range BrahMos, BulgarianMilitary.com has learned, citing an official statement of the Indian Air Force on its Twitter account. According to military tests, they took place on the east coast of India and the missile successfully hit the target, which was decommissioned Indian ship.
- India’s Tejas MK2 fighter will fire with SCALP EG and SPICE
- F/A-18E SH, Rafale and MiG-29 begin their battle for the Indian Navy
- India buys 4th-Gen Su-30 MKI fighters amid the war in Ukraine
- Su-30 Flanker-C – Russian 4 generation fighter jet [review]
This is not the first test of the BrahMos and Su-30MKI air-launched missiles. India has conducted several more successful tests in recent months. The next step of New Delhi is likely to arm the Indian fighter Tejas with BrahMos cruise missile. Similar statements were made by Alexander Maksichev, co-director of the Russian-Indian company BrahMos Aerospace, in February last year. “The missile [BrahMos] has already adapted well to the Su-30 fighter. That is why we are considering equipping an Indian Tejas aircraft with supersonic weapons,” Alexander Maksichev said.
In early January this year, India tested BrahMos again, but this time its sea-to-sea version. Then, on January 15, the newest “diamond” in the Indian Navy – the destroyer Visakhapatnam – fired a missile that reached and hit the target with a precision accuracy at a distance of 500 km. This is the maximum range of BrahMos in the sea-sea and land-air versions.
The BrahMos cruise missile
The BrahMos missile in its three different versions (land, air, and water) is considered one of the most effective and at the same time highly combat-capable cruise missiles, which is in service in the Indian army. BrahMos is a joint project between Russia and India designed to increase the combat capability of the Indian Army.
BrahMos is a medium-range missile in the category of supersonic developing a maximum flight speed of 2.8 Mach. Depending on its intended purpose, the missile has a different range of action: when launched from a land or sea platform, the missile has a range of 500 km, when launched from an air platform, the range is 400 km. BrahMos has an export version with a maximum range of up to 290 km.
The rocket is powered by two stages – in the first stage it burns solid fuel, and during the second stage it burns liquid fuel thanks to its liquid ramjet engine. BrahMos can fly at an altitude of up to 15 km.
The average value of a BrahMos missile is about $ 2.7 million. Apart from India, the Philippines is the other country to have purchased and adopted the naval version of the BrahMos supersonic missile. Russia is a potential customer, with Moscow believing that the new class of Russian frigates will be able to be armed with this missile. There is a request for a possible purchase from countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America.
***
Follow us everywhere and at any time. BulgarianMilitary.com has responsive design and you can open the page from any computer, mobile devices or web browsers. For more up-to-date news, follow our Google News, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook pages. Subscribe to our Newsletter and read our stories in News360App in AppStore or GooglePlay or in FeedlyApp in AppStore or GooglePlay. Our standards: Manifesto & ethical princliples.