IAF test-fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from Sukhoi-30

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ In a display of its growing combat prowess, the Indian Air Force on Friday successfully test-fired an air launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi fighter aircraft in the Bay of Bengal, official sources said. The missile hit a sinking ship with deadly accuracy and the test-firing produced desired results, they said.

The aircraft, belonging to Thanjavur-based Tigersharks squadron, took off from a frontline airbase in Punjab and it was refuelled mid-air before the missile was released, they said. The test firing of the missile came in the midst of India’s bitter border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.

The missile was fired after the Su-30 MKI aircraft travelled for over three hours covering a “significantly long distance”, the officials said. In May last year, the Indian Air Force for the first time had successfully test fired the aerial version of the BrahMos missile from a Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft.