Tuesday, 09 Jun, 2026
Brahmos and Sukhoi's has been the backbone of India's defence arsenal. Image Source: IANS
The integration will be a boost in the arm for the Air Force which is battling depleted fleet strength
If everything goes right, the Indian Air Force's Sukhoi 30MKI will soon be seen flying with the advanced version of Brahmos supersonic missile. Of the 265 Sukhoi jets in the IAF fleet, 42 jets have undergone structural, mechanical and software modifications at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, allowing the 2.5-tonne missile to be carried in the underbelly of the jet.
The advanced version of the world's only supersonic missile is capable of hitting targets as far as 500 kilometres. Earlier, its range was limited to 300 kms. This enhancement was initiated after India formally joined the elite 35-nation missile technology club -- the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) -- in June 2016. The IAF had tested the extended range of the missile in May.
Brahmos is jointly devloped by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Russian Federation's NPO Mashinostroyeniya. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
The ship and land-based missiles can carry a conventional armor-piercing warhead weighing up to 200 kg, while the aerial variant can carry a warhead weighing up to 300 kg. The BrahMos can also track surface targets as low as 10m in altitude. The missile can reach a speed of Mach3 making it the fastest missile in the world.
Both the Brahmos and Sukhoi have been a part of India's defence arsenal for close to two decades. While they are jointly devloped, there production happens in India. In the past few years, there has been a consistent effort to indigenise the armed forces which are largely dependent on foreign imports.
Source: IBEF
The defense production in India was at an all-time high during 2017-18 at $12.2 Billion. There was a decline in the defense production in 2018-19 and 2019-20. One of the major reasons was the covid-19 pandemic which resulted in the nationwide lockdown for a long period of time and also the disruption in supply chains. But the government once again ramped up its efforts to increase the defense production in India as this is evident from the figures of 2020-21. The defense production increased to $10.9 Billion in the year 2020-21 and it ascended to $11.85 Billion in 2021-22. The Defense ministry has projected defense production worth $25 Billion by 2025. Private defense manufacturing companies, in particular defense equipment manufacturing companies in India, have benefited from this initiative as it created greater demand opportunities. These reforms are helping to meet the Atmanirbhar Bharat objectives and boost indigenous defense production in the country.
