BrahMos gets 1st export order from Philippines

| | New Delhi
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BrahMos gets 1st export order from Philippines

Saturday, 29 January 2022 | Rahul Datta | New Delhi

India on Friday entered the niche defence export market by inking a deal worth over 375 million dollars with the Philippines for BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.  It is the first big export contract by India. The country hopes to cross the five billion dollar mark by 2025.

The Pioneer on January 14 had reported about the Government-to-Government deal between India and the Philippines for the missile system. While the Brahmos is a joint venture between India and Russia, the missile is indigenously designed and manufactured. The missile can be launched from land, air, sea and submarines.

Announcing the deal, Defence Ministry officials said here on Friday that BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL) signed a contract with the Department of National Defence of the Republic of the Philippines for supply of shore-based anti-ship missile system.  The contract is an important step forward for India’s policy of promoting responsible Defence exports.

Though the Government did not specify the number of missiles to be supplied to the Philippines Navy, sources said at least three batteries will be sold. The signing ceremony took place in Manila.

Moreover, the range of the missile for export is about 300 km with the capability of carrying 200k warhead even though the Brahmos has the capability of hitting a target at more than 400 km, they said.

Indian ambassador to the Philippines Shambhu Kumaran said he was privileged to witness history in the making. “Signing of the Brahmos acquisition contract by Philippines Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana today marks a decisive step forward for Prime Minister’s Mission Sagar and India’s Indo-Pacific engagement,” he tweeted.

He thanked Lorenzana and Philippines Cabinet Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr for their active support to build stronger relations with India.

“Today we are one step closer to elevating ties between our democracies to a strategic partnership and our shared objective of a free and peaceful Indo-Pacific,” Kumaran noted.

“It is also a moment of deep pride as India establishes itself as a source of high-technology equipment and a trusted partner towards capability development of friendly nations,” he added.

Reacting to BrahMos’s export order, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairman G Satheesh Reddy said, “Surface to air missile Akash, Astra, anti-tank missiles, radars, torpedoes gain the interest of various countries. More systems are being developed which have export potential.”

The Philippines selected the Indian missile system after tough negotiations and extensive trials, officials said adding a team from the Philippine Navy visited the production unit of BrahMos Aerospace in Hyderabad some months back as part of the acquisition process.

 

The BrahMos Integration Complex in Hyderabad undertakes integration of mechanical systems and assembling electronic systems. Various sub-systems fabricated in other centres in India and Russia are integrated and checked at this complex.

 

India and the Philippines signed an implementing arrangement in March last year for the Government to Government deals regarding military equipment, including the BrahMos missile.

 

 

 

This deal came about in the backdrop of India engaging with several Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam for the sale of the missile system, they added.

 

 

 

 

 

India’s ties with the Philippines were stepped up in the past few years after the two countries  signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defence and Logistics in 2018.

 

 

 

In 2020, an MoU on Sharing of White Shipping Information (non-military/non-government shipping vessel information) was signed. In 2019, the Philippine Navy participated in a group sail in the South China Sea along with the navies of India, the United States, and Japan.

 

 

 

India has inducted the land and sea version of the Brahmos into its security architecture.  The supersonic cruise missile can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft and land platforms. The BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. The Army and Navy have already inducted the highly versatile missile.  Recently, India successfully test-fired the extended range sea-to-sea variant of the missile from the Navy’s INS Vishakhapatnam on January 11.

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