Indian Air Force (IAF) successfully test fired the BrahMos air version (BrahMos-A) missile from its frontline Su 30 Mk-I fighter aircraft on 22 May 2019. The launch from the aircraft was smooth and the missile followed the desired trajectory before directly hitting the land target.

The trial was under users’ configuration with launch point, target point, way point, launch altitude and range being decided by the user. The aircraft with BrahMos-A took off from Thanjavur Air Base. The missile was launched 30 km from Car Nicobar towards the target point at Trak Island at a distance of 229 km from the launch point. The maximum available path length of the missile was utilised by providing way-points. Downrange Ship with Telemetry receiving station was positioned nearly 25 km away from target point beyond the weapon danger zone.

Peripheral Control Device carried out health check, PREP and issued all relevant commands pertaining to the preparation & launch precisely. All inputs and computed parameters by PCD including the LINS array were loaded into the missile during the preparation/and launch phase.

The missile, after being gravity dropped from the fighter’s fuselage, reached the safe distance from the aircraft and flew for its full range towards the designated land target hitting it with “bull’s eye precision”.

BrahMos-A has been integrated on Su-30MKI aircraft to provide enhanced employability to our Armed Forces as an offensive weapon. The air version missile can be deployed IAF tests BRAHMOS-A from Su-30MKI, hits land target with perfect precision against sea as well as land targets. The successful integration of BrahMos-A on Su 30 Mk-I aircraft has been demonstrated in number of drop trials and first launch against ship target in November 2017 proving the carriage and launch envelope of the missile.

DRDO, spearheaded the launch activities with a joint team of BrahMos and IAF, for the successful launch. Indian Navy provided the critical support by ensuring availability of a large number of monitoring ships to ensure range safety clearance.