BrahMos missile to be tested from Sukhoi fighter jet for 1st time this week

BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is all set for the test fire from  Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet for the first time this week. 

The deadly combination of a fighter jet with cruise missile which flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8, will be another feather in Indian Navy and Defence. 

Earlier this year, Indian Navy successfully test-fired land attack version of BrahMos missile at the Andaman and Nicobar islands which were first sea-to-land missile test in the country.

Developed by a joint venture India's Defence Research and Development Organization and Russia's NPO Mashinostroeyenia, BrahMos are the first choice for the Army, Navy and IAF as a conventional precision-strike weapon. 

This air-to-ground BrahMos missile can be easily used to destroy terror camps situated inside the enemy territory or take out underground nuclear bunkers. 

Initially, a hypersonic version of the BrahMos has been planned by the defence ministry. 

Now, a lighter BrahMos missile weighing 2.4-tonne will be tested from a twin-engine Sukhoi fighter over the Bay of Bengal this week, defence ministry sources told the Times of India. 

According to the same report, 42 Sukhoi fighters will be armed with BrahMos missiles once the air-launched is successfully done. 

Claimed as the fastest cruise missiles in operation in the world, BrahMos is four times faster and twice as heavier than US' Tomahawk missile. 

The Block-III version of the missile having a "steep dive, trajectory manoeuver, and top-attack capabilities" has been approved by the government in Arunachal Pradesh to counter China, a TOI report said. 

India had held talks with Vietnam for the supply of the BrahMos missileIndia had held talks with Vietnam for the supply of the BrahMos missile. 

At least seven other countries from the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East regions requested India for the deadly cruise missile.