The first squadron of Su-30MKI jet fighters, armed with an air-based version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles entered service in the Indian Air Force Monday, The Times of India reported.
According to the article, the planes will enter service during a ceremony set to take place at Thanjavur Air Force Station in India’s Tamil Nadu.
The Air Force Station houses the 222nd “Tigershark” squadron, the first to receive the Su-30MKIs, reconfigured for BrahMos missiles.
According to the newspaper, the BrahMos-equipped Sukhoi fighters will become a “platform to keep a ‘strategic eye’ over the Indian Ocean Region, especially the Bay of Bengal,” and will be able to carry out “long-range precision strikes against hostile aircraft carriers or other high-value targets by day and night in all-weather conditions.”
A source close to India’s Ministry of Defence said the squadron would receive 18 fighters before the end of this year.
211216-N-QI061-1222 NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. (December 16, 2021) An MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), assigned to Unmanned Patrol Squadron 19 (VUP-19), sits on the flight line at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, Dec. 16, 2021. VUP-19, the Navy’s first Triton squadron, will continue to maintain and operate the aircraft off the East Coast to further develop the concept of operations and refine tactics, techniques, and procedures. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nathan T. Beard/ Released)