New Delhi: (Defence News) The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Friday test-fired an air-launched version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Su-30MKI fighter, ANI reported in the evening. "Indian Air Force today carried out a successful test firing of the DRDO-developed air-launched BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi-30 fighter aircraft to target a ship in the Bay of Bengal" the news agency tweeted crediting the information to Government sources. Su-30 MKI fighter took off from an IAF base in Punjab, struck a target deep in the Indian Ocean using the cruise missile, the sources said.
The target was 4,000 km away deep into the Indian ocean from the base the IAF fighter took off from. It has been reported by the agency that the Su-30 MKI fighter was refuelled mid-air during its journey to the point from which the 300-km range missile was to be launched.
While the tension alongside the India China border continues in Ladakh, notably this is the third BrahMos missile test in the last two months.
Earlier this month, Indian Navy's indigenous stealth destroyer INS Chennai had test-fired a naval version of the missile in the Arabian Sea. In September, the DRDO had successfully test-fired extended-range version of the missile. The test-firing drill today involved a Su-30 MKI from the Thanjavur-based Tigersharks squadron. A couple of the jets have been flying in the north since fleet clearance was received in June this year, reported defence blog LiveFist.
Details are awaited from the government on the successful launch of the inter ballistic missile. The story will be updated once we receive more information on this.
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