Russia signs new defense contract with India

Russia has signed a contract with India on the integration of the joint Russian-Indian cruise missile Brahmos aboard the multifunctional fighter Su-30MKI, Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) said. The Su-30MKI fighter jet is produced in India under license from Russia. Noteworthy, the contract of the integration of the missile to the aircraft was signed in December. The news was exposed on the eve of the international aerospace exhibition "Aero India 2013". The exhibition will be held in Bangalore, India, on February 6-10. Fomin said that Russia would act only as an advisor of Indian partners in this contract. The Brahmos missile is designed to destroy a wide range of maritime targets. It has a high range (up to 290 km), high supersonic speeds (up to 2.8 M), significant combat load (250 kg) and low vulnerability to radars. The weight of the missile is 3 tons. The new missile is designed on the fire-and-forget principle: the missile can find targets itself.