• The Indian Air Force successfully test-fired the extended range version of BrahMos air launched missile against a ship target from a SU-30MKI aircraft.

• The missile achieved the desired mission objectives in the Bay of Bengal region.

• With this, IAF has achieved a significant capability boost to carry out precision strikes from SU-30MKI aircraft against land or sea targets over very long ranges.

• The extended range capability of the missile coupled with the high performance of the SU-30MKI aircraft gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate the future battlefields.

BrahMos missile

• BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russian joint venture, produces supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.

• BrahMos evolved out of the joint efforts of Indian and Russian scientists, under the joint venture company BrahMos Aerospace, DRDO and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia along with a consortium of Indian and Russian industries.

• The company came into existence consequent to an inter-governmental agreement signed between the two countries in February 1998. 

• The acronym BrahMos is perceived as the confluence of two great nations represented by two great rivers — Brahmaputra of India and River Moskva of Russia.

• The modular design of the missile and its capability of being launched at different orientations enables it to be integrated with a wide spectrum of platforms like warships, submarines and different types of aircraft.

• It operates on fire-and-forget principle, adopting varieties of flights on its way to the target. Its destructive power is enhanced due to large kinetic energy on impact. 

• BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.

• India is also exporting the BrahMos missiles. In January, India sealed a $375 million deal with the Philippines for supplying three batteries of the missile.

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