Approximately 40 Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighters are already armed with the Russian-Indian Brahmos air-launched missile. As Alexander Maksichev, co-director of the joint company Brahmos, told RIA Novosti at the "Fleet-2026" naval exhibition, the rearmament program is ongoing. He emphasized that Operation Sindur in May 2025 confirmed the highest characteristics of these aircraft with this type of missile.
Brahmos is a supersonic cruise missile based on the Russian P-800 Onyx. It reaches speeds of up to Mach 3 and can engage targets at a range of up to 290 km. The air-launched version, Brahmos-A, which equips the Su-30MKI, weighs about 2.5 tons and carries a 300-kilogram warhead. The integration of the missile onto the fighter required strengthening the airframe structure and modifying the pylons.
The Indian aircraft manufacturing corporation HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) will transfer the last two multi-role combat aircraft Su-30MKI, produced by the corporation under license, to the Indian Armed Forces. This was reported by The Hindu newspaper.
Earlier, media reported that India modernized its fleet of Su-30MKI fighters to the Super Sukhoi 4.7 generation standard, equipping them with active electronically scanned array radars.