The Indian Air Force (IAF) conducted a successful test firing of BrahMos surface-to-surface cruise missile in combat mode on October 22, at the Trek Islands in Car Nicobar Islands region off India’s Eastern coast.

The launch comes a day after the weapon was tested in practice configuration. “The BrahMos land-attack weapon in practice configuration followed the desired flight trajectory and flew for its nearly full range of 300-km before successfully hitting the pre-set target accuracy,” said top level defence officials who witnessed the launch.

“The two consecutive tests were conducted by the IAF to confirm operational preparedness and combat readiness of BrahMos SSM to validate the missile’s precision hit capability over long distance,” the officials said.

The IAF will soon deploy BrahMos air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) on its Su-30MKI strike fighter platform. It has already operationalised the mobile, land-based BrahMos Squadron since 2014.

Jointly developed by India and Russia, the multi-role, multi-platform BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has also been operationalised in the Indian Army and Navy.