Second batch of India-made BrahMos missiles sent to PH

BrahMos cruise missile system

MANILA, Philippines — India has sent to the Philippines the second of three batches of BrahMos cruise missiles, a year after the first delivery was completed.

Unlike the first battery that was transported on an Indian Air Force transport aircraft, the second one is being delivered on a ship, as reported by India’s English language newspapers, The Economic Times and The New Indian Express.

Sought for reaction, Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, the Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, referred the Inquirer to the Department of National Defense (DND).

As of this writing, the DND had yet to respond to the Inquirer’s request for comment.

READ: BrahMos ‘deterrence’ missiles arrive from India

The Philippines is set to receive a total of three BrahMos missile batteries under its P18.9-billion deal with BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd., an Indian-Russian joint venture.

Part of the Philippine Navy’s shore-based antiship missile system project, the first batch of Brahmos arrived in the country in April 2024, making it the third Southeast Asian nation to acquire the world’s fastest supersonic antiship missile system after Indonesia and Vietnam.

Deterrent

During the signing of the contract in January 2022, then Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that “the Brahmos missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea.”

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea, waters within Manila’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

With a range of 290 kilometers to 400 kilometers, the BrahMos medium-range supersonic missiles can be launched from submarines, ships, planes, or land platforms. They have a velocity of Mach 2.8 or about three times faster than the speed of sound.

Its missile battery has at least three mobile firing units with attached command and control technology, a radar, and support vehicles and units.

During his visit to India in March, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said the Philippines would procure more missile systems, warships, and fighter jets to boost the country’s deterrence in the face of growing regional tensions over Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea.

“India is a vital partner. Beyond procurement, we are looking into joint manufacturing, technology transfer and local production in the Philippines to support our growing defense industry,” Brawner said at the Raisina Dialogue, an annual geopolitical and geoeconomics conference.