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agreed that BrahMos missile will be exported to a list of mutually
agreeable countries for defensive purposes. There is also a nega-
tive list to which exports are barred. “A number of other Southeast
Asian countries are ready to buy our missiles,” the Indian MoD
official says. India had expressed interest in selling the missile
to Vietnam. Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are also keen on
acquiring the missile. [ LAND SYSTEMS ]
Senior officials from the Philippine Army expressed keen interest
in the BrahMos missile system during a visit of the Indian warship
INS Sahyadri (F-49), a guided missile stealth corvette, which made
a port call at Manila, Philippines in October 2019.
The Philippines is looking at an Integrated Missile Defence System
programme, that will feature close coordination with the Philippine
Navy and Air Force. The Philippine Army’s first Land Based Missile
System Battery also has plans to acquire the BrahMos. “The
Philippine Army is also interested in acquiring this type of missile as
it will strengthen our coastal defence operations,” says Lieutenant
Colonel Ramon P. Zagala, Philippine Army Spokesperson. Philippine
Army Vice Commander Major General Reynaldo M. Aquino and
other Army officers were briefed on the BrahMos missile system
by the Commanding Officer of INS Sahyadri Captain Ashwin Arvind.

Russian supersonic anti-ship missiles. Variants
Growing Partnership of missiles have been created for land forces
In December 2019, Lorenzana had said the country was inter- and the Air Force with extended range that are
ested in buying two BrahMos missile batteries and suggested based on Russian anti-ship missiles.
that a contract could be signed by the end of 2020. But the pan-
demic situation could have delayed the acquisition process. India The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile has
has offered a US$100 million line of credit to the Philippines for been operationalized in the Indian Armed
defence purchases. However, Manila is exploring the option of Forces with all the three services. A majority
acquiring the BrahMos system with its own budget. During Prime of the frontline ships of Indian Navy, such as
Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Philippines in 2017, India and INS Kolkata, INS Ranvir and Teg Class war-
the Philippines had signed an MoU on defence industry and logistics ships are capable of firing the BrahMos missile.
cooperation to provide a framework for strengthening coopera- The Indian Navy inducted BrahMos in 2006,
tion and coordination in logistics support and services, and in the followed by the Indian Army, which inducted
development, production and procurement of defence hardware. the supersonic cruise missile weapon system

in 2007. Recently the DRDO had extended the
Potent Weapon range of the missile system from the existing
India, assisted by Russia, has launched a family of supersonic 298 km to around 450 km. The missile can be
cruise missiles to engage land and sea targets at a speed of 2.8M. fired from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land
Its basic versions for the Navy are based on the design of Onyx platforms. The naval variant of the BrahMos
supersonic cruise missile, with an extended
range of 350 to 400-km, was successfully
tested recently.

The air force has already operationalized the
mobile, land based BrahMos since 2014. And
in may 2019, the Indian Air Force successfully
test fired the aerial version of the supersonic
BrahMos cruise missile from a Su-30 MKI
fighter aircraft. The 2.5 tonne air-to-surface
missile has a range of around 300 km. BrahMos
is also working on a 1,500-km range missile,
which initially will be a land-based missile.
BrahMos is capable of carrying a warhead of
300 kilograms (both conventional as well as
nuclear) and has a top supersonic speed of
Mach 2.8 to 3 (roughly three times the speed
of sound).

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