SOURCE: AFI
India issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) announcing a missile firing exercise scheduled to take place in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a strategically vital archipelago in the Bay of Bengal. The NOTAM, effective from April 4, 2025, at 9:00 AM IST to April 10, 2025, at 5:30 PM IST, designates a firing range of 465 kilometers, sparking speculation that the Indian armed forces are gearing up to test the air-launched variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, known as BrahMos-A.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, positioned near the Malacca Strait—a critical global maritime chokepoint—have long served as a testing ground for India’s advanced missile systems. The specified range of 465 kilometers aligns closely with the capabilities of the BrahMos-A, an air-launched version of the BrahMos missile, which boasts an extended range of over 450 kilometers following India’s entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016. This range extension, up from the original 290 kilometers, enhances the missile’s reach, making it a formidable asset for precision strikes from the air.
While the NOTAM does not explicitly name the BrahMos-A, the range and context leave little room for doubt among defence analysts. The missile’s air-launched configuration, deployed from a Su-30 MKI, has been a focus of recent modernization efforts, with over 40 IAF Sukhoi jets being modified to carry the weapon. This test could serve to further certify the system’s readiness for serial production and operational deployment, a process that gained momentum after its clearance in December 2021.
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