When the airborne version of BrahMos supersonic missile gets flight-tested from a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI frontline fighter this year - in April, according to BrahMos chief Sudhir K Mishra - the BrahMos unit in Thiruvananthapuram will have much to cheer about. The airborne launchers for the missile are being built by BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (BATL), a subsidiary of Indo-Russian JV BrahMos Areospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL), at Chakkai. Static drop tests using a dummy missile are currently underway at BATL.
Dr. Sudhir Mishra CEO & MD of BrahMos Areospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL)
‘’The airborne launchers are the ‘interface’ between the aircraft and the missile. The static drop tests are meant to ensure that missile gets released from the fighter smoothly,’’ a top BATL official said on Tuesday. By Wednesday, BATL would have completed 30 tests on the launcher, the official said.
BAPL CEO & MD Sudhir Mishra, who was in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday, told ‘Express’ that the missile would be flight-tested aboard a Su-30 fighter in April.The airborne version of BrahMos is approximately 500 kg lighter than the original design. For the trials, two Su-30 MKI had been selected and the first one was handed over to BAPL by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), entrusted with modifying the aircraft to carry the missiles, in February 2015. ‘BrahMos’ is an amalgam of the river names ‘Brahmaputra’ and ‘Moskva.’ The BrahMos unit was created in 2007 by taking over government company Keltec in 2007 for a token Rs 1.
Supersonic Feat
Airborne Launchers are interface between aircraft and missile
■ By Wednesday, BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Ltd would have completed 30 tests on the launcher
■ Static drop tests underway at BATL, Chakkai
■ The airborne version of BrahMos is approximately 500 kg lighter than the original design
■ For the trials, two Su-30 MKI had been selected and the first one was handed over to BAPL by HAL