BrahMos supersonic cruise missile successfully tested from Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet

India successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet on Wednesday. The missile was gravity dropped from the Su-30 from the fuselage, and the two-stage missile’s engine fired up and straightway propelled towards the intended target at the sea in the Bay of Bengal.

The missile, weighing 2.4-tonne instead of the original 2.9-tonne, was tested from a twin-engine Sukhoi fighter over the Bay of Bengal.

The successful maiden test firing of Brahmos Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) from Su-30MKI will significantly bolster the IAF’s air combat operations capability from stand-off ranges.

Brahmos ALCM weighing 2.5 ton is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India’s Su-30 fighter aircraft modified by HAL to carry weapons. Brahmos, the world-class weapon with multi-platform, multi-mission role is now capable of being launched from Land, Sea and Air, completing the tactical cruise missile triad for India. Brahmos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPOM of Russia.

Raksha Mantri Smt Nirmala Sitharaman congratulated DRDO and BrahMos for the outstanding accomplishment.

— Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) November 22, 2017

Dr S Christopher, Chairman DRDO & Secretary, Department of Defence R&D congratulated the Scientists and Engineers for this excellent textbook kind of flight test.

The missile test was witnessed by Dr Sudhir Mishra, DG (BrahMos) & CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace along with senior IAF officials, Scientists and Officials from DRDO and BrahMos.

Earlier in May, The Indian Army successfully test-fired an advanced and upgraded version of the BrahMos supersonic land-attack cruise missile with an extended range of 450 km in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, re-validating the weapon’s strike capability on Wednesday.

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) tested the latest version of the cruise missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) Chandipur at sea in Balasore, off the Odisha coast.

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, successfully tested from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet in Odisha's Chandipur. (Source: IAF)

#WATCH: BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, successfully tested from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet in Odisha's Chandipur. (Source: IAF)

— ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2017

'The extended range BrahMos hit the target with centimetric accuracy. It's a big leg up for us and it was a fantastic test flight. With this new version, all three forces, Army, Navy and IAF will have the capability to strike deep into the enemy's territory.'

'This is the first for the world – a supersonic cruise missile with such a high range.'BrahMos is the first beneficiary of India's MTCR membership. We have fulfilled the government's dream. The BrahMos missile is one of the most precise and accurate in the world.

'During the launch at 1130 hrs, the land-attack version of the supersonic cruise missile system met its mission parameters in a copybook manner. It was a text book launch achieving 100 per cent results, executed with high precision from the Mobile Autonomous Launcher (MAL) deployed in full configuration,'said BrahMos in a statement.

According to BrahMos Aerospace, ''the formidable missile system once again proved its mettle to precisely hit enemy targets at much higher range than the current range of 290 km, with supersonic speed of 2.8 Mach'.