DAC Grants Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) For 1,000 km Range LRASSCM; To Be Used From Sukhoi Su-30MKI

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has granted Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the Long Range Air-to-Surface Supersonic Cruise Missile (LRASSCM), a new weapon designed to combine a 1,000 km strike reach with sustained supersonic flight through ramjet propulsion. That combination is expected to let the missile cover long distances far faster than conventional subsonic systems, sharply cutting an adversary’s response window while improving its chances of penetrating defended airspace. The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is set to become the first launch platform for the missile, with carriage trials expected to start in the next phase before the programme moves into sequential testing and eventual operational integration.

Also Read: DRDO to test LRASSCM, a fully indigenous Supersonic Cruise Missile, rivalling BrahMos

India’s reported LRASSCM project could become one of the most important missing pieces in the Indian Air Force’s long-range strike architecture. The reason is simple: the missile appears designed to bridge a long-standing capability gap between the BrahMos family’s high-speed but shorter stand-off reach and India’s 1,000 km-class subsonic cruise missile efforts. If that design goal holds, the Su-30MKI would gain a weapon that combines deep-strike reach with sustained supersonic flight, giving the IAF a much faster option for attacking hardened land targets, high-value infrastructure, and possibly maritime assets from safer launch distances. Reporting around the programme links it to a 1,000 km-class requirement for the Air Force and Navy, while recent coverage says the Su-30MKI is expected to be the initial carrier platform.

LRASSCM vs BrahMos

Why the 1,000 km Mark Changes Everything

The biggest story here is range. Air-launched BrahMos gives the Su-30MKI a powerful supersonic strike option, but its reported operational range remains far below the 1,000 km mark. A 1,000 km-class LRASSCM would push Indian airpower into a different standoff bracket, allowing launch aircraft to remain much farther from dense enemy air-defence zones while still delivering a fast strike package. That matters because long-range strike at subsonic speed already exists in India’s missile ecosystem; what has been missing is a weapon that carries similar strategic reach but gets there much faster. That is why LRASSCM matters more as a category shift than as a simple BrahMos follow-on.

The Propulsion Question: Ramjet, Not Just a Fast Sprint

The technical appeal of LRASSCM lies in the propulsion logic being discussed around it. Public reporting has described the missile as a supersonic cruise weapon, with ramjet-based propulsion often mentioned as the likely route. If that proves accurate, the missile would not merely accelerate briefly in the terminal stage but sustain supersonic cruise over long distance, which is a very different problem from a conventional subsonic cruise missile. That would put it closer in concept to a longer-legged, more deeply optimized strike weapon for the Su-30MKI rather than just an incremental speed upgrade. I would still treat the exact propulsion architecture cautiously until DRDO or the MoD publishes formal specifications, because open-source reporting is ahead of official disclosure here.

Why the Su-30MKI Is Central to the Missile’s Future

The Su-30MKI is the natural launch platform because it already carries India’s heaviest air-launched stand-off weapons and has the payload, range, and centerline carriage flexibility for a large missile. That makes the aircraft the obvious first home for LRASSCM. This also ties directly into the Super Sukhoi modernization path. The Su-30MKI upgrade programme received DAC approval in November 2023, and the indigenous Virupaksha AESA radar is being developed specifically to replace the Bars radar on upgraded aircraft. That radar matters because a 1,000 km-class strike weapon is only as useful as the aircraft’s ability to build, refine, and share long-range targeting data in a modern kill chain. In that sense, LRASSCM and Super Sukhoi are complementary projects, not separate stories.

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The broad point is that BrahMos remains the IAF’s high-speed hammer, but LRASSCM could become the deeper-reaching spear.