According to the just issued press release by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd:
'The first carriage flight of Su-30 MKI aircraft with BRAHMOS missile was
successfully achieved at HAL Airport, Nashik today. “It is a perfect example of
Make in India and an engineering marvel in aviation history of India. It proves
that when all agencies come together with one mission, there is nothing like
impossible”, said T. Suvarna Raju, CMD, HAL who was present on the
occasion. He pointed out that this unique programme was taken up by HAL as an
indigenous challenge at its Nashik Division and the required data was generated
without the assistance of OEM for the modification. It is not the
techno-economics of the project, but HAL’s commitment to self-reliance which
made HAL to sign the contract with BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd (BAPL) in 2014 for modification of two Su30
MKI aircraft for integration of BRAHMOS missile. The first modified aircraft
was airborne in one year and the second aircraft in the second year. This is
the second project where HAL presumed the role of OEM and modified the airframe
of license build aircraft.
Sudhir Kumar Mishra, CEO & MD, BrahMos Aerospace said it is the first time in the world that such a heavy weight (2,500 kg)
supersonic cruise missile has been integrated on fighter aircraft. “The world
did not believe us that we could do it and thanks to the vision of late
President APJ Abdul Kalam, we could achieve this today and history is
made”, he added.
The aircraft was in the air for 45 minutes and was flown by Wg. Cdr.
Prashant Nair and Wg Cdr M.S. Raju, both flight test crew of ASTE.
With successful integration of BRAHMOS, Su-30MKI has become
a lethal weapon delivery platform for IAF. Around 40 Su-30MKI
aircraft are expected to be modified. The maiden flight will be followed by
series of test flights and complete evaluation and certification of BRAHMOS missile on Su-30MKI, added Mr. Raju. The missile is developed by BAPL. Other agencies involved in the project
include CEMILAC and DGAQA.'
