India and the Philippines entered into a formal contract to buy Brahmos missiles today. This acquisition project will be India’s first export deal of the shore-based anti-ship missile system. It may be noted that Brahmos missiles were developed between India and Russia.
Reports suggest that the Philippines Defence Minister Delfin Lorenzana was present during the signing of the deal. This contract will bring India and its South East Asian neighbour closer in terms of defence cooperation. Other than the Filipino minister, senior diplomats representing both sides were present during the signing ceremony.
The deal was signed after Indian Brahmos Aerospace Pvt Ltd’s proposal to provide an upgrade to the Philippines navy was accepted by the Filipino government a few weeks back. The proposal is worth a $374.9 million deal. Following the proposal by Brahmos Aerospace, the Philippines’ Department of National Defence confirmed to its officials about the awarding of the contract.
The deal had its share of hiccups as the pandemic had caused financial constraints for the Philippines, delaying the deal.
In 2021, India and the Philippines signed a defence agreement allowing defence exports from India to the Philippines. It may be noted that its neighbours, Indonesia and Vietnam have also expressed similar acquisitions to overhaul their defence systems.
This historic deal is resultant efforts of deepening and upgrading ties between New Delhi and Manila over the past few years. After defence partnership, the two countries are looking to sign a preferential trade agreement. As part of the deepening ties, India has granted a $100 million LOC for defence to Manila.
This order is historic as this is a major defence deal for India. The supersonic missile developed by Russia and India is likely to undergo upgrades in the coming years. There are proposals to launch a lighter version of these supersonic missiles so that they can be used from aircraft and submarines. The USP of this missile is it is a multipurpose missile that can target surface threats as well as airborne threats.
India has pitched this missile to other friendly countries as well. This deal is a major success for the government’s pitch on Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India.
Brahmos missile has already been commissioned with the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy and the Indian Army.
