Philippines and Indonesia arming themselves with advanced supersonic missiles like India’s BrahMoS is a worrying development for China, especially for its energy trade, around 80 percent of which passes through the strategic Malacca Strait, between Malaysia and Indonesia.
BrahMoS Missile: In a worrying development for China, after Philippines, another one of its maritime neighbours is likely to purchase the BrahMos supersonic missiles from India. According to reports, Indonesia is mulling to acquire India’s indigenously-built BrahMoS missiles, and the two nations are working on a missile deal worth $450 million, which is expected to finalized when Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto visits India to attend Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on January 26, where he will preside over as the chief guest.
India is also offering to facilitate a loan for Indonesia for the BrahMoS missile deal from the State Bank of India, or another other national bank, reports said, adding that the deal was recently discussed during Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi’s visit to Indonesia.
The Indonesian Defense Ministry has sent an official letter to their Indian counterparts to work out the finer details of the $450 million deal, which would make Indonesia the second Asian country to acquire the Indian BrahMoS missile system after Philippines, WION reported.
Notably, in India’s first major defense export contract, Philippines inked a $375 million deal with New Delhi in January 2022 to acquire three batteries of the sea-to-surface variants of the BrahMos missile. Additionally, India and Vietnam are also inching closer to finalizing a $700 million deal for BrahMos missiles.
Trouble for China
Philippines and Indonesia arming themselves with advanced supersonic missiles like India’s BrahMoS is a worrying development for China, especially for its energy trade, around 80 percent of which passes through the strategic Malacca Strait, between Malaysia and Indonesia.
China dominates the South China Sea and uses its naval superiority to allegedly “bully” its smaller neighbours, including Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia. The dragon has occupied the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which ha deteriorated Beijing’s ties with Philippines since 2009.
China has also released a new map of South China Sea, which shows Philippines’ islands, that are part of EEZ, as Chinese territory. However, Philippines is now armed with BrahMoS missiles, which could act as a deterrent against Chinese aggression.
According to experts, India is arming other neighbouring countries with its advanced missile system to corner China in the South China Sea and its surrounding regions.
How powerful are BrahMoS missiles?
The BrahMoS, jointly developed by India and Russia, is regarded as the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world, capable of reaching speeds of up to approximately 2,900 kilometers per hour. The BrahMoS missile comes in land, sea and air variants, and can strike targets at a range of up to 290 kilometers, making it an effective and versatile offensive or defensive asset.
Notably, the Indian Air Force has accidentally fired a air-to-surface variant of BrahMos towards Pakistan which struck 100 kilometers inside the neighboring country, without being detected by Pakistan’s radars, which are Chinese-made, raising doubts whether China lacks the technology to track this advanced missile.
India became a party to the Missile Technology Control Regime in 2016, and has since worked on increasing the range of BrahMoS missiles, and recently a prototype variant, successfully fired from a Sukhoi fighter jet, reached a range of over 400 km.
