NEW DELHI: India and Russia are expected to discuss the joint development of advanced variants of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi beginning Thursday. BrahMos emerged as a pivotal weapon for the Indian armed forces during the recent four-day Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. Building on this success, India has identified the need for lighter and more versatile versions, including the BrahMos-NG, which can be fitted across the Indian Air Force’s fighter fleet and strike targets over 400 kilometres away, reported ANI, citing souces.The two sides are also likely to explore work on extended-range BrahMos systems capable of hitting targets at more than three times the missile’s current range. “These discussions are likely to take place between the two sides during the Russian President’s visit,” the sources said.BrahMos remains one of the most successful examples of Indo-Russian defence collaboration, symbolising the long-standing strategic partnership between the two nations. Ahead of the summit, the countries have also been in talks on co-developing next-generation hypersonic and long-range air-to-air missile systems.India is further expected to finalise the procurement of 280 S-400 Sudarshan Chakra air defence missiles, which were successfully deployed against multiple Pakistani targets earlier this year.The Indian armed forces have equipped the Navy and other services extensively with BrahMos missiles. The missile has also been successfully exported to the Philippines, and further sales in the Asian region are expected.With its supersonic speed and precision strike capability, the missile is extremely hard to intercept and has repeatedly demonstrated high accuracy in operational use, including during the May conflict with Pakistan.