India to export BrahMos cruise missiles to Philippines

The Philippines accepted BrahMos Aerospace’s proposal to provide supersonic cruise missiles for its navy on Friday. The Philippines Department of National Defense issued a Notice of Award to India, for $374.9 million, signed by Secretary Delfinn Lorenzana. The order instructed BrahMos Aerospace to deliver the Shore-based Anti-ship Missile System within ten calendar days of receiving it.

The agreement is thought to represent a huge step forward for Prime Minister Modi’s government in pushing defence exports. According to ANI, the DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace have been working together for the past few months to secure an export deal to friendly foreign countries. The BrahMos supersonic missile, which is built by an Indo-Russian joint venture, may be launched from submarines, ships, planes, or land.

The BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile was successfully test-fired by the Indian Navy and the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) from INS Visakhapatnam on January 11. The warship is a relatively new addition to the Indian Navy’s fleet. The BrahMos missile is a strong and important combat weapon that has been deployed on practically all Indian Navy surface units.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile:

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has a range of 290 kilometres and can travel at a speed of Mach 2.8 to 3.0. Meanwhile, the BrahMos- II Hypersonic cruise missile, with a range of 450-600 km and a Mach 7 velocity, can be deployed to hit the target. The DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia are now working together to build the missile.