Tigersharks : India is placing Sukhoi jets in South India

Tigersharks : India is placing Sukhoi jets in South India

Part of: GS Prelims –Polity and GS-II- Internal Security

In news:

• Air force commissioned the 222 squadron, also known as ‘Tigersharks’, for their Thanjavur base Tamil Nadu
•  It will play a key role in keeping China’s growing clout in the Indian Ocean region 
• The squadron has Sukhoi-30 carrying the BrahMos cruise missile.

From Prelims point of view:

Sukhoi Su-30MKI

• A twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia
• Integrates Indian systems and avionics as well as French and Israeli sub-systems.

BRAHMOS

• Joint venture between India & Russia.
• Brahmos is named on the rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva.
• air to surface missile with a flight range of around 300 km.
  

India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) has extended the range of the BRAHMOS missile to reach 450 km-600km, a shade above its current MTCR capped range of 300 km.

• Brahmos is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft, with a weight of 2.5 tonnes.
• Brahmos is a multiplatform i.e it can be launched from land, air, and sea.
• It operates on the “Fire and Forgets” principle i.e it does not require further guidance after launch.