India Supercharges MiG-29s, Mirage 2000s and Tejas Jets with Deadly BrahMos NG Missiles in Major Strike Power Upgrade

(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) — The Indian Air Force (IAF) is preparing to usher in a new era of long-range, high-precision aerial warfare with the integration of the BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) missile across its frontline combat platforms, including the MiG-29UPG, Mirage 2000, and HAL Tejas Mk1A.

Designed as a lighter, faster, and more versatile variant of the Indo-Russian BrahMos missile, the BrahMos-NG promises to deliver transformative enhancements in standoff strike capability and multi-platform lethality.

“The BrahMos-NG will serve as a primary air-to-surface missile across these platforms, significantly enhancing the IAF’s standoff strike capabilities and multirole lethality,” according report.

Integrating this advanced missile system requires tailored upgrades to the respective aircraft, particularly modifications to launch systems and structural reinforcement to accommodate high-speed, high-mass ejections.

Developed under BrahMos Aerospace, a joint Indo-Russian venture, the BrahMos-NG reflects India’s growing technological maturity in precision strike systems, while maintaining interoperability with existing BrahMos platforms.

At just 6 meters in length and approximately 1.5 tons in weight, the BrahMos-NG is significantly more compact than its 8-meter, 2.5–3 ton predecessor—allowing for expanded operational flexibility, especially in aircraft with limited payload capacity.

With speeds exceeding Mach 3, the missile remains among the fastest supersonic cruise systems in global inventories, shrinking enemy reaction windows and complicating adversarial air defence intercept timelines.

Its operational range is estimated at 290–300 kilometers under MTCR compliance, though export or domestic variants may push these limits further as India explores selective range extensions for specific strategic requirements.

Guidance architecture comprises inertial navigation, GPS augmentation, and an active radar terminal seeker, granting BrahMos-NG pin-point accuracy against both static and mobile targets in high-threat, GPS-denied environments.

The system’s standout attribute lies in its tri-domain compatibility—designed for seamless deployment across air, maritime, and land-based platforms with minimal structural modification.

In the aerial domain, the BrahMos-NG’s reduced weight enables light and medium fighters—including Tejas Mk1A, Mirage 2000, and MiG-29UPG—to carry multiple missiles per sortie, drastically improving payload flexibility and strike redundancy.

Naval integration is equally promising, with the missile’s compact design allowing for retrofitting on smaller corvettes and surface combatants previously unable to accommodate standard BrahMos launchers.

On land, BrahMos-NG is deployable from mobile, road-mobile launchers with a smaller logistical footprint, increasing tactical mobility and survivability in dispersed or rapidly shifting battlefield environments.

For India’s Su-30MKI fleet, the smaller BrahMos-NG variant allows carriage of two to three missiles per aircraft, significantly multiplying first-strike lethality compared to the single BrahMos-A configuration.

This elevated payload-to-platform ratio is expected to recalibrate the IAF’s mission planning doctrine, enabling saturation strikes or multi-vector engagement profiles in deep-penetration scenarios.

The missile’s simplified airframe and lower weight threshold also offer distinct export potential to countries with platform limitations, particularly in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa—regions where India is increasingly asserting itself as a defence exporter.

Initial test launches of the BrahMos-NG are scheduled for 2025, with series production anticipated thereafter, pending successful evaluations under varying climatic and terrain conditions.

As part of India’s evolving doctrine of rapid-reaction, standoff precision warfare, BrahMos-NG is poised to become the linchpin of high-speed, first-day-of-war strike options for the IAF.

Countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines have reportedly expressed interest in acquiring the missile, viewing it as a game-changing deterrent amid heightened regional maritime and airspace disputes.

For the Indian Air Force, the integration of BrahMos-NG marks a paradigm shift in airpower projection, reinforcing its capability to strike deep, fast, and hard without exposing pilots to high-risk penetration of hostile airspace.

The missile’s performance envelope permits engagement from beyond the reach of most known air defence systems, neutralising high-value command nodes, radar installations, and maritime threats before they can mount effective responses.

As the Indo-Pacific continues to witness intensified strategic competition, BrahMos-NG offers a potent edge in both conventional deterrence and limited war contingencies.

Parallel to BrahMos-NG integration, the IAF is also upgrading 20 additional Su-30MKI aircraft to support the air-launched BrahMos-A, which weighs 2.5 tons and is already fielded on 40 aircraft within the fleet.

Once upgrades are completed by 2027, the IAF will operate a total of 60 Su-30MKIs configured to carry BrahMos-A, enabling the formation of a third dedicated BrahMos missile squadron.

These structural enhancements allow the Su-30MKI to withstand the aerodynamic stresses of carrying and launching the BrahMos-A at high speeds and altitudes without compromising airframe integrity.

BrahMos-A retains the supersonic Mach 3 velocity and features a range of 400–500 kilometers, delivering long-range strike capability deep into contested or denied-access zones.

Jointly developed by India and Russia, the BrahMos-A continues to serve as the IAF’s long-range air-launched cruise missile of choice, complementing the BrahMos-NG’s emerging role as a multi-domain precision weapon for high-tempo strike operations.

Together, both variants signify India’s strategic ambition to dominate the spectrum of standoff precision attack, consolidating its role as a leading airpower in one of the world’s most contested regions.

Export Potential of BrahMos-NG: India’s Supersonic Strike Missile Eyes Global Defence Market

The BrahMos-NG (Next Generation) missile, currently under development by India’s BrahMos Aerospace, is poised not only to bolster India’s own standoff strike capabilities but also to become one of the country’s most promising defence exports in the coming decade.

Designed as a lighter, faster, and more versatile evolution of the original BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, BrahMos-NG addresses a key challenge faced by many air forces and navies around the world: the lack of space, payload capacity, or platform compatibility to operate heavy, full-sized cruise missiles.

Unlike the original 2.5–3 ton BrahMos, which is primarily integrated on large platforms like the Su-30MKI or major surface combatants, the BrahMos-NG—at only 1.5 tons and 6 meters in length—is specifically engineered to fit a broader array of platforms, including light fighter aircraft, corvettes, and mobile ground-based launchers.

This reduction in size and weight significantly expands its export potential, particularly to countries operating fourth-generation fighters such as MiG-29, Mirage 2000, F-16, and even the JF-17, many of which have been unable to accommodate larger cruise missiles due to technical constraints.

Already, several countries have expressed interest in acquiring BrahMos-NG, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Brazil—nations that are either existing operators of BrahMos systems or have been engaged in defence dialogues with India regarding regional deterrence capabilities.

In Southeast Asia, where maritime boundary disputes and grey zone operations are on the rise, the availability of a compact, high-speed, precision-strike missile like BrahMos-NG offers strategic deterrence without triggering the escalation associated with ballistic missile deployments.

For countries facing growing threats from hostile naval presence or airspace violations, the Mach 3+ speed and 290–300 km range of BrahMos-NG provide a potent anti-ship and precision land-attack capability that is difficult to intercept and highly survivable, especially when launched from air or mobile platforms.

The fact that BrahMos-NG is being developed with export compliance in mind, particularly with respect to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), further enhances its attractiveness on the global market.

Its terminal active radar seeker, GPS-aided navigation, and high-speed maneuverability also allow for flexibility in mission profiles—be it coastal defence, suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD), or deep-strike against high-value targets—making it a suitable addition to NATO and non-NATO arsenals alike.

Moreover, India’s growing reputation as a reliable defence partner, coupled with the recent success of the BrahMos export deal to the Philippines, has enhanced confidence in the reliability and political stability of engaging with Indian defence technology.

As India continues to pitch the BrahMos-NG to strategic partners under its “Make in India, Make for the World” initiative, the missile is expected to play a key role in enhancing India’s defence diplomacy and military-industrial influence, particularly across the Indo-Pacific, South America, and parts of the Middle East.

In summary, the BrahMos-NG has all the hallmarks of a breakthrough export product—combat relevance, technical adaptability, regional deterrence value, and strategic affordability—positioning it as a future pillar of India’s missile export ambitions and a competitive player in the global high-speed precision strike market.

— DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA