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BrahMos Aerospace on Saturday successfully demonstrated the integration of supersonic cruise missile system BrahMos on Su-30MKI frontline strike fighter of the Indian Air Force.
The demonstration flight, carried out at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Nasik, involved carriage of BrahMos weapon on the long-range Sukhoi-30 fighter, giving a major fillip to the BRAHMOS air-launched flight test programme, said Praveen Pathak, General Manager, Marketing Promotion & Export, BrahMos Aerospace, in a statement issued here.
The flight took place in presence of HAL CMD T. Suvarna Raju, BrahMos Aerospace CEO & MD Sudhir Kumar Mishra and HAL Nasik CEO Daljeet Singh.
The integration brings a paradigm shift in the capability of the IAF vis-a-vis its adversaries.
Once operational, the powerful missile will enable the IAF penetrate deep inside the enemy territory to deliver a deadly blow to their vital installations from stand-off ranges. Integration of BrahMos with the Su-30MKI will render the weapon a multi-platform capability while making the IAF the only Air Force in the world in procession of a supersonic cruise missile system, Pathak said.
With the successful flight on Saturday, the BrahMos air version programme moved closer towards actual test firing, when a 2.5-ton BrahMos air-to-ground missile will be fired from Sukhoi-30 in the coming months.
The Su-30-BrahMos combination will carry out air combat operations within and beyond visibility range and will provide the IAF with the capability of attacking targets protected by powerful air defence assets.
Saturday's flight trial has been keenly observed by several other nations in the world in possession of the Su-30 strike fighter, who are looking towards acquiring a lethal weapon system for the Russian-made warplanes.
Defence Research and Development Organisation Secretary Dr S Christopher congratulated the team. He has continuously motivated and guided the BrahMos team to achieve the design capability of the Brahmos airborne missile system and personally reviewed engineering activities.
Mishra congratulated the Joint team of HAL, DRDO, IAF & BrahMos for achieving this technological feat, which will go down in the history as first in the world combination of supersonic cruise missile with a long range fighter aircraft.
He further noted that the immense contribution of V S N Murthy, PD (BrahMos), and the three Deputy PDs -- Gp. Capt. M K Srivastava, Gp Capt S Mondal, and Gp Capt K N Santosh for the BrahMos air version programme.