MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and India are studying possibilities to equip SU-30MKI multi-role fighters in the Indian Air Force inventory with the BrahMos missile designed jointly by the two countries, President of the Irkut research and production corporation Alexei Fyodorov said on Friday.
"Equipping the SU-30MKI with the BrahMos missile is a quite real mission, and the plane is capable of carrying such missiles. The SU-30MKI has certain reserves to be upgraded for the use of such missiles," Fyodorov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Talks and consultations of the possibilities of adding BrahMos to the SU-30MKI armament are already underway, he said.
"The Russian party has given its principal consent to consider and realize the possibilities," Fyodorov noted.
The Brahmos missile is being developed by BrahMos Aerospace Ltd., a joint Russian-Indian venture, and the ground-based version of the missile has already been designed and is being tested.
BrahMos is a multifunctional missile used to destroy a wide variety of sea-borne targets. It is noted for its long flight range of up to 290km, great supersonic speed of up to 2.8 Mach, payload of up to 250kg and low radar signature.
The missile travels within the altitude bracket ranging from 10 to 14,000 meters on Hi-Lo trajectory, the weight of the baseline version mounting up to 3,000 kilograms. The operation mode of the missile provides for the fire-and-forget principle. The aviation variety's weight will be 500kg lower.
Experts say there are no analogues of BrahMos in the world. It surpasses contemporary missiles three times in speed, 2.5 times in range, and three to four times in orientation time.
In accordance with unofficial data, investments of $240 million will be necessary to develop the missile. The project is financed by both Russian and Indian sides on the parity basis.