India will additionally purchase Su-30MKI aircraft and equip them with extended-range missiles
The Indian Air Force was supposed to have 40 Russian-made Su-30MKI fighters. Now it has been decided that India will additionally purchase the same Su-30MKI aircraft in the amount of 20-25 units and equip them with BrahMos extended-range cruise missiles.
This is reported by the Indian newspaper The Times of India, referring to the commander-in-chief of the country's Air Force, Marshal V. R. Chaudhary.
The new aircraft will receive an upgraded version of BrahMos missiles. If now the new Indian Su-30MKIs (35 of them have already entered the army) are armed with missiles with a maximum range of 290 kilometers, then an improved version of this weapon will appear on board additional combat vehicles, capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 450 kilometers. And according to a source in the Indian newspaper The Print, the maximum range of such missiles is even higher - more than 500 kilometers.
Marshal Chaudhary said that to modernize this weapon are planned at the enterprises of the Indian defense industry.
In total, the Indian Air Force has 272 Su-30MKI fighters. The modernization of all these aircraft is going to start in five years.
The BrahMos missile is a joint product of Russia and India. It is considered the only supersonic cruise missile in existence in the world. It is very difficult to intercept it with existing missile defense systems.
- Government of India
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