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Context

• The Extended Range version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was successfully test-fired for the first time from a Su-30MKI fighter by Indian Air Force (IAF)to a designated target in the Bay of Bengal region.
• This test gives the IAF a strategic reach and allows it to dominate future battlefields.

About BrahMos

• BRAHMOS is a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India (DRDO) and the NPOM of Russia.
• Brahmos is named after the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.
• It is a two-stage (solid propellant engine in the first stage and liquid ramjet in the second) air to surface missile with a flight range of around 300 km.

Integration of Su-30 MKI and BrahMos

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and BAPL (BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd) 2014 signed a contract to modify two Su-30 MKI aircraft for integration with the missile.
• It was for the first time in the world that such a heavyweight missile was integrated into a fighter aircraft.
• All-weathered Brahmos gives the Sukhoi a combat radius of almost 1,500 km without mid-air refuelling.
• Brahmos is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft, with a weight of 2.5 tonnes.

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