NEW DELHI: The IAF is going to arm more Sukhoi-30MKI jets with the precision-strike BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, whose range has been extended from 290 to 450-km, even as a blueprint is also being drawn to indigenously upgrade all the 260 such Russian-origin fighters in the combat fleet.
Impressed with the first test of 450-km BrahMos from a Sukhoi-30MKI jet in the Bay of Bengal in May, IAF plans to send another 20-25 jets for the structural, electrical, mechanical and software modifications required to carry the 2.5-tonne missile to defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL).