India Will Hand Over First Set Of BrahMos Missiles Today

More than two years after signing a USD 375 million contract to provide the weapon systems to the Southeast Asian nation, India is scheduled to send the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines on Friday, according to sources familiar with the situation. According to them, the missiles and launchers would probably be transported by an Indian Air Force military transport aircraft to the Philippines, where they would be handed over to the nation’s marine forces. India and the Philippines finalized the agreement in January 2022 for the supply of three missile batteries.

India would be exporting the BrahMos missile for the first time. Several other nations, such as Argentina, have expressed interest in acquiring BrahMos missiles from India. The supersonic cruise missiles that can be fired from land platforms, ships, submarines, and airplanes are made by a joint venture between Russia and India, BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. The BrahMos missile can travel at nearly three times the speed of sound, or 2.8 Mach. In light of growing international worries over China’s growing military aggression in the South China Sea, India has been considering further strengthening defense ties with the Philippines. Concerns about China’s expansive claims of sovereignty over the whole South China Sea, a major hydrocarbon supply, have grown on a worldwide scale. There are counterclaims from a number of nations in the region, such as Brunei, the Philippines, and Vietnam. India has chosen to dispatch a defense attaché to the Philippines, along with representatives from Ethiopia, Mozambique, Poland, and the Ivory Coast, as part of its efforts to strengthen military ties with that nation.