Tawqeer Hussain
The Philippines on Friday accepted India’s proposal to supply the BrahMos anti-ship missile system for its navy. A notice of award for the BrahMos deal, which is worth $374.9 million, has been communicated the the BrahMos officials by the Philippines Department of National Defense.
Philippines accepts BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd’s proposal worth USD 374.9 million to supply Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System Acquisition Project for Philippine Navy pic.twitter.com/p167tenWwV
— ANI (@ANI) January 14, 2022
The procurement is aimed to boost India’s strategic ties with the Philippines as the island nation is focused on ramping up its naval prowess due to friction with China in the South China sea.
The BrahMos missile has been developed in India under the joint collaboration between India’s Defence Research Development Organisation and Russia’s Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Mashinostroyenia.
BrahMos is considered as the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile capable of being launched from submarines, ships, fighter jets and from land. The missile has integrated stealth technology and guidance system with advanced embedded software. The missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound, according to the news agency PTI report. The variant to be exported is likely to have a range of around 290 kilometres.
According to the reports, this is India’s first major export of big weapon system which will boost Country’s strength in Defence market. The reports added that Indian government is also planning to sell the missiles to Vietnam. India is aiming to target $5 billion in defence exports by 2025.