Image source: topwar.ru
First of all, Asian countries with Su-30 fighters in service are interested in purchasing Indian Brahmos missiles. Combined, these two products can become a deadly complex capable of accurately hitting targets at long distances.
Ritu Sharma, a columnist for the Indian newspaper The EurAsian Times, discusses this in his article.
She recalls that the initial range of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, developed as part of an Indo-Russian joint venture, was 290 kilometers. In 2023, the Indian Air Force successfully tested a version of the extended-range product with a range of 450 km installed on the Su-30MKI fighter. If we consider that the combat radius of the aircraft is 1.5 thousand kilometers, we will get a fairly long-range and effective weapon. Moreover, the rocket is capable of flying at a speed of Mach 2.8, that is, three times the speed of sound.
Image source: topwar.ru
Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam use Su-30MKI fighters as part of their air forces. At the recent Defense Services Asia exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, a representative of BrahMos Aerospace said that he had offered the company's products to partners from these three countries, and they were interested in it.
The BrahMos cruise missile, which can be not only air-launched, but also land-based and sea-based, is a product of cooperation between the Russian NPO Mashinostroenie and the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). Its first tests took place in 2001.
