India to start delivery of BrahMos missiles and launchers to Philippines tomorrow

New Delhi: India will on Friday deliver the first set of BrahMos launchers and missiles ordered by the Philippines, a landmark move for the country as it seeks to expand its defence footprint, ThePrint has learnt.

Sources in the defence and security establishment said the delivery will be carried out by two aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and civilian freight liners to the Clark International Airport in the province of Pampanga, Philippines.

Sources added that the shipment would also include “some of the initial lot of missiles”.

They explained that a missile system is made up of a number of sub-systems including launchers, vehicles, loaders, and command and control centres, among others.

Sources said that India has finally completed the storage-building space in one of the Philippines’ islands as part of the $374.96-million deal signed in January 2022.

The contract, which was the first major international export order for the Indian defence space, is for a shore-based variant of an anti-ship cruise missile, with a range of 290 km.

While India now has longer-range missiles, the one being delivered to the Philippines is that of the original shorter version.

Sources, however, clarified that the missiles were brand new and not from the lot that was meant for India.

The issue came up because BrahMos is an Indo-Russian joint venture with certain critical parts coming in from Russia, which is currently in the middle of a war with Ukraine.

The delivery comes at a time when the Philippines is in a maritime dispute with China.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had travelled to the Philippines in March and said India backed the country in upholding its national sovereignty.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have escalated over the past two years, mainly over two disputed territories: Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.

The former is about 120 nautical miles (222 km) west of the Philippine island of Luzon and is considered a part of the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Spratly Islands are a group of over 100 islands and reefs, and while the Philippines claims some parts, China asserts its right over the entire archipelago.

The BrahMos is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world that flies at three times the speed of sound (Mach 2.8 ). It is capable of both coastal defence and ground attack roles.

Negotiations between India and the Philippines over the BrahMos missiles had been on for years, but hit a roadblock in December 2020, with Manila citing budgetary limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March 2022, India signed a key pact with the Philippines, which paved the way for government-to-government deals on BrahMos and other defence collaboration.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)