However the agreement itself is not a
contract. In 2020 end local media reported that
india offered the philippines a 100
million dollar credit line for the
purchase of indian weapons systems most
notably BrahMos missiles but now a
filipina government source involved in
the deal said the amount of the indian
loan could be higher.
In 2024 the CEO of BrahMos Aerospace Sudhir Mishra visited the philippines to
discuss the sale of the BrahMos missile
system. for the record the philippines have
shown interest in the purchase of the BrahMos since 2016. It was reported that negotiations were
underway since 2019 regarding the
procurement of two mobile batteries for
the philippine army under the Land-Based Missile System (LBMS program. A mock-up of the philippine army version
of the launcher was shown.
The missiles were fitted on a
semi-trailer towed by a south korean KIA-KM500 truck. In addition in the spring of 2020 there
were reports of the philippine navy's
intention to purchase three batteries of
the BrahMos system. However in early december 2020 the
philippine government decided to
postpone the plan for financial reasons
linked to the ongoing coronavirus
pandemic, keeping the chinese navy at bay.
The philippines are worried about the
rise of the people's liberation army
navy plan or chinese navy. The plan already controls many islets
such as the spratly islands and the
scarborough shoal. The recent discovery of a chinese
submarine drone on the nearby solaire
island and a new law allowing chinese
coast guard to open fire on foreign
ships and waters claimed by china
continue to fuel tensions in the region.
The BrahMos procurement would offer the
philippines a way to deter china's
expansionism and somewhat restore the
military balance between the two
countries. Should the philippines go ahead with the BrahMos procurement plan, it would become
the first export customer of the system.
About BrahMos, the BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet
supersonic cruise missile that can
target ship and land targets and can be
launched from submarine, ships, aircraft
or land. It is designed by BrahMos Aeropsys a
joint venture between the russian
federation's NPO machine australia and
india's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The baseline BrahMos Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) has a launch range
of approximately 290 kilometers, 180
miles and speed of mach 2.8 to 3.0.
In 2016 india joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and got
the right to develop cruise missiles
with extended launch ranges for the
national armed forces. In march 2017 the indian defense
industry tested an extended range
variant if the missile known as BrahMos-ER for extended range which was
reported to be able to hit targets at a
distance of approximately 400 kilometers.
BrahMos 2 is a hypersonic cruise missile
currently under development and is
estimated to have a range of 600
kilometers and a speed of mach 8. BrahMos-NG next generation is a mini
version based on the existing BrahMos. While it has similar 290 kilometers
range and mach 3.5 speed it is much
smaller to be able to be deployed from
indian air force aircraft such as Mig-29K heltaidus or dasso rafale.
According to BrahMos Aerospace, BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid
propellant booster engine as its first
stage which brings it to supersonic
speed and then gets separated. The liquid Ramjet or the second stage
then takes the missile closer to three
mach speed in cruise phase. Stealth technology and guidance system
with advanced embedded software provides
the missile with special features.
