Asia-Pacific Staff New Delhi

The Indo-Russian BrahMos supersonic cruise missile joint venture will expand this year into perhaps its toughest domain, with the company announcing it is nearly ready to conduct the first test of the BrahMos-A, an air-launched version of the weapon.

In the works for at least eight years, the BrahMos-A has been integrated onto a specially constructed reinforced belly hardpoint of a modified Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.-built Sukhoi Su-30 MKI, says BrahMos CEO A. Sivathanu Pillai. Captive trials with a full mock-up missile will be conducted in the next two months, with a first test-firing off the east coast of India in early 2014.

“The missile integration is nearly complete to the satisfaction of all concerned, including the Indian air force (IAF). Preliminary ground tests will begin shortly. We will build confidence before beginning flight tests and then a test-firing,” Pillai said in Bengaluru during the recent Aero India show.

The BrahMos-A is a modified version of the baseline land- or ship-launched version, sporting a smaller booster and fins for airborne stability after launch. The missile also has been modified to relocate its umbilical connector. The missile is designed for a release height from a Su-30MKI of 500-14,000 meters (1,640-46,000 ft.). After a free fall of 100-150 meters, the BrahMos-A has a cruise phase at 14,000 meters and terminal phase at 15 meters.

The BrahMos-A's current weight of 2.55 tons means it will be tested and deployed only on the Su-30MKI. The company's earlier plans to make the weapon available for the Indian navy's Ilyushin Il-38 maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft fell through after ground clearance constraints cropped up. Similar plans to deploy it on the navy's Tupolev Tu-142 long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft were also shelved after the Navy said it was not worth the cost of modification, given that the fleet did not have much time left in service.

An officer with the IAF's Pune-based Su-30MKI squadron said, “Heavy modifications have been necessary for such a heavy missile, and initially it didn't seem to make sense to deploy a single missile. But in simulations, the weapon holds promise. Our test crews look forward to firing the missile and seeing how it does. It's a potent standoff weapon. We've provided BrahMos with several inputs over the years about how the missile needs to perform.”