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.
