NEW DELHI, February 8. /TASS/. The trials of the air-based version of the next generation BrahMos missile (BrahMos NG) will begin in late 2024, says BrahMos Aerospace CEO and Managing Director Atul Dinkar Rane.

"We have to make it [missile] smaller," Rane said, adding that the next generation of the BrahMos missile will be "half the weight," and its size will also be smaller. "We are working on that right now. We will start testing that by the end of next year." Rane said.

He noted that the company intends to unveil the finished missile within two or three years, adding that "it would take maybe a year" to start production.

"So, I will say by December 2025 - the middle of 2026 we will have this smaller missile which we can fit on any aircraft," the CEO said.

Currently, air-based BrahMos missiles are being installed on Su-30MKI heavy jet fighters. The new missile is being designed for lighter Indian planes - the MiG-29 and the Tejas.

In the future, the company intends to offer this version of the missile to the Russian Aerospace Forces as well.

The BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile, produced by the Russian-Indian enterprise BrahMos Aerospace. It was developed by Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Its first test launch took place in 2001. Various versions of the missile have been commissioned to India’s air force, navy and ground forces. The BrahMos Aerospace headquarters is located in New Delhi. The name is derived by combining the names of two rivers - the Brahmaputra in India and the Moskva in Russia.