BRAHMOS Missiles from India could see new buyers in near future. Philippines intends to buy BRAHMOS Missiles from India. Talks are going on with other South East Asian (SEA) Nations, besides some Middle East nations as well.

Despite having one of the largest Defence manufacturing facilities, India has limited itself from exporting armored vehicles so far. However, now a big boost is being given to export the Defence Armament, Missiles systems to the friendly nations.

In the past India’s ambassador to the Philippines Jaideep Majumdar had said, “There are discussions going on a range of weapons systems between India and the Philippines. Once travel becomes possible, the joint committee that looks at defence logistics will meet discuss these things.”

As per recent news there are talks for the purchase of a number of defence platforms from India including the BRAHMOS missile.

The deal could be concluded in 2020 and the end customer could be the Philippines Army, another report quoted.

The Philippines Army had zeroed in on the BrahMos after extensive trials and everything now revolved around the cost of the system and financing for the deal, the report said without naming the source of its information.

The BrahMos system’s cost could determine the purchase scope and size to arm the Philippines Army’s first land-based missile battery, raised in October this year.

India has previously offered a $100-million line of credit to the Philippines for arms purchases from India. Among the systems that Manila intends acquiring from India for a very long time is the BrahMos missile, but it would be with its own defence budget, the report said.

India had displayed a mock up of the BrahMos missile at the defence exhbition held in Manila on Dec. 5. The missile was displayed mounted on a truck launcher system and a chart outlined the Philippines Army’s development road map for the first Land Based Missile Battery.

The chart said the battery had been activated and its personnel would undergo special courses on rockets, missiles and training simulators to be prepared for inducting the missiles.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Philippines in 2017, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on defence industry and logistics cooperation to provide a framework for strengthening cooperation and coordination in logistics support and services, and in the development, production and procurement of defence hardware.

ASEAN nations have earlier approached New Delhi exploring the idea to procure major defence and weapon systems, including the Akash and BRAHMOS missiles.

In the last few years, India has exported personal protective items or bulletproof gear and Armour plating for military vehicles to the Philippines. New Delhi is now exploring the defence deals with Indonesia and Vietnam to sell its Indo-Russian missile, BRAHMOS.

India has earlier contracted to sell coastal defence radars and marine-grade steel to Indonesia and to service the Russian-made Su-30 combat jets flown by the Indonesian air force. “It is significant if India is offering the BRAHMOS missile to Indonesia. It enhances the relevance of India’s military profile as a credible exporter of cruise missile technology,” said Commodore (retired) C Uday Bhaskar.

India has been in talks with the ASEAN nations for a long time over the export of BrahMos missiles and experts are predicting that New Delhi should be able to make inroads into the South-East Asian nations as pressure from China mounts.

India on 17-December, 2019 had successfully conducted two separate trials of supersonic cruise missile BRAHMOS, one each from land and air platforms to check its capability to hit targets with precision and accuracy.

The trials were carried out jointly by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Air Force (IAF) and BRAHMOS Aerospace as per the defence sources.

As per defence sources, while a land-attack version of the missile was test-launched from Launch Pad-3 of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur at around in the morning, an Air Force variant of BRAHMOS was test fired from an IAF fighter jet Su-30MKI over Bay of Bengal.

Defence sources further said that, “The first missile launch was from a land-based mobile launcher (AL), where most of the components were indigenous, including the missile air frame, fuel management system and DRDO designed seeker.”

“The second launch of the missile was carried out by IAF from SU-30MKI platform against a sea target. The test conducted in user configuration, re-validated the ship attack capability of the advanced air-launched cruise missile.”

The twin trials, carried out to check the capability of the armed forces to hit targets with pin-point accuracy were successful, meeting all the parameters, a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) source said.

Earlier on May 22, 2019, Indian Air Force (IAF) had successfully tested the missile against a land-based target in the Car Nicobar Islands region. The BRAHMOS Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) promises to bolster the air combat capability of IAF from stand-off ranges, the defence statement said.

The deadly BRAHMOS missile is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from submarines, warships, fighter jets and land. The 2.5-tonne missile has a strike range of nearly 300 km.

However, the first extended version of the missile with a strike range of 450 km was successfully tested on March 11, 2017, Defence sources said.

A shorter range land-attack version of BRAHMOS was successfully test fired from the ITR at Chandpur on September 30, 2019, they said.

The missile is operational with the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

The BRAHMOS is regarded as the fastest supersonic crusie missile in the world, the sources said.

It has established itself as a major force multiplier in modern warfare with its land-attack and anti-ship capabilities along with multi-role and multi-platform abilities, they added.

Among the other foreign customers for the India-Russia joint venture missile are Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. These nations are interested in buying the land- and ship-based variants of the world’s only operational supersonic cruise missile that can reach a range of over 290 km and touch speeds of close to Mach 3 or three times the speed of sound.

ASEAN nations had approached India seeking to purchase major defence and weapon systems from India, including the Akash and BrahMos missiles. As has been reported earlier by some news papers, export of Akash and BRAHMOS missiles was topping the agenda of talks when 10 ASEAN leaders met during the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi on the eve of India’s Republic Day in 2018.

Some of the countries from the ASEAN region as well Gulf countries have also expressed interest in buying ‘Akash’ missile designed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), has an interception range of 25-km, which are meant to keep fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones from attacking critical installations.

According to Prof Srikanth Kondapalli, Chinese Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, “In the case of both Indonesia and Vietnam, Russia is already selling SU-27 fighters and Kilo Class submarines to both countries. Indonesia is keen on the air version of BRAHMOS from India.”

Countries like UAE have also expressed interests in both the Made in India’ missiles. Last October DRDO had made a presentation for theAkash’ surface to air missile system to UAE Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Mohammed Ahmed Al Bowardi Al Falacy. The UAE after visiting the BEL facility and meeting with DRDO officials had expressed keenness on the indigenous missile system along with other platforms.

India has consciously tried balance its relationship in the Middle East and has so far not finalized deal for any system in the region and the same for the South American region. Lot of interest was generated in the South American region after the successful launch of BRAHMOS from SU-30 aircraft against a sea target, as many countries have opted for the Sukhoi aircraft from Russia.

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