India secures deal to export BrahMos cruise missiles worth $375 million to Philippines

The Philippines on Friday accepted BrahMos Aerospace's export-order proposal to provide supersonic cruise missiles for its navy. The major deal worth $374.9 million was communicated to India through a Notice of Award by the Philippines Department of National Defence, signed by Secretary Delfinn Lorenzana. The order directed the BrahMos Aerospace to provide the supply of the Shore-based Anti-ship Missile System with ten calendar days of receiving the order.

The deal is said to be PM Modi government's major step forward to push defence exports. As per ANI, for the past few months, DRDO and BrahMos Aerospace have been jointly pushing hard for the export deal to friendly foreign nations. It is to mention that the BrahMos supersonic missile is produced by an Indo-Russian joint venture and can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft or land.

On January 11, the Indian Navy along with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile from INS Visakhapatnam. The warship is a recent induction in the Indian Navy. A powerful and main weapon of combat, the BrahMos missile has been deployed on almost all surface platforms of the Indian Navy.

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile can cover a range of 290 km reaching the Mach 2.8 to 3 Mach speed. Meanwhile, the BrahMos- II Hypersonic cruise missile can be deployed to hit the target within a range of 450 – 600 km at Mach 7 velocity. The missile is currently under joint development by the DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia.

Philippines export order biggest to propel 'made-in-India' initiative

The current deal with the Philippines comes under India's 'made-in-India' initiative for defence weapons. The said order would be the biggest for the country in the field after DRDO bagged orders from the Armenian government for weapons locating radars. Meanwhile, India is expected to receive more orders from "friendly nations" in the coming time as New Delhi entered the advanced stage of discussions, ANI reported. The credibility of the missile has been enhanced after the incorporation of modern technologies and added range. As per reports, BrahMos Chief Atul Dinkar Rane has been invested in working to upgrade the indigenous content in the missile system and expand the production base.

(With ANI inputs)

(Image: PTI)