After Sukhoi, 3 more jets to be mated with BrahMos

Amid the success of BrahMos missile launched from the Sukhoi30-MKI jets during ‘Operation Sindoor’, India now plans a ‘next generation’ version of the missile that can be fitted onto three other types jets in the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet.

Going forward, the IAF and the BrahMos – a joint venture of India and Russia that has same name as the missile — is looking at the next-generation (NG) BrahMos or a lighter version. This could be fitted on to the smaller platforms like MiG-29, Mirage 2000 or even the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas.

The BrahMos NG is planned to be about 1.3 tonnes in weight and will be the primary deterrent weapon of the IAF, sources said.

Over the past two decades Indian defence scientists worked on two aspects — first, modify the Sukhoi to carry the missile and, second, to reduce some 500 kg of weight of the BrahMos and bring it down to 2.5 tonnes while embedding ‘fins’ on the missile for stability when launched from air.

Several targets in Pakistan were hit by the air launched version in the early hours of May 10. Sukhoi 30-MKI jets, flying well within the Indian territory, released the BrahMos missile which each of them was carrying. All these Pak bases are 100-200 km inside Pakistan from the border with India, hitting these bases turned out to be a turning point for the decision makers in Pakistan, who had dialled the US on May 10.

The IAF keeps BrahMos missile capable Sukhoi in almost all its squadrons. The missile can travel at 2.8 Mach ( approximately 3,400 km per hour). At that speed its interception with the technology Pakistan has, was impossible. BrahMos is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world that can be fired from a fighter jet.

This alteration to the Sukhoi did not come easy. Starting from 1997 India had been using the Sukhoi. In December 2005, the Lok Sabha was informed “ Indian and Russian scientists have jointly established the feasibility of integrating the BrahMos missile with Sukhoi”. In 2012, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved structural and software modifications on 42 of the Sukhoi jets and acquire 216 air-launched Brahmos missiles.

In January 2020, the IAF inducted the first squadron consisting of modified Sukhoi jets, armed with the air launched BrahMos missiles.

The range was 290 km, in line with the limitations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). After India joined the grouping in June 2016, the range was extended to 450 km, and it’s to be further extended to 600 km.

The supersonic Brahmos armed with a conventional warhead can penetrate hardened command, control and communication centres.

India