HAL Integrates Su-30MKI Fighter Jet With BrahMos Supersonic Air Based Missile

India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has announced that it has successfully integrated BrahMos supersonic cruise missile’s air-based version with a SU-MKI fighter jet Tass reported Tuesday.

Major structural modifications of the missile that include re-distribution of loads on the lifting elements of the aircraft after the bench running have been carried out over the past seven months.

Russia has provided a team of technology consultants, were employed to resolve accommodation of the  missile by altering the configuration of the fuselage, project’s Managing Director S. Subramanyan was quoted as saying by TASS.

The first trial tests are scheduled in March. Second trail fighter jet testing will commence after the March test and all the tests might be completed in about a year. The same pattern will be applied to the existing Indian Air Force's 42 Su-30MKI jets.

The Indian government’s security committee endorsed allocation of $ 1.1 billion in October 2012 for purchasing 200 BrahMos missiles to be installed on Su-30MKI fighters of the Indian Air Force.

The weight of the air-based version of the missile was reduced by 500 kilograms and the length by about 50 centimeters to make the integration successful.