India’s BrahMos Aerospace and the Philippines are scheduled to ink an agreement on Friday for the Philippine Marines to buy three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile for roughly $375 million, as per government sources. According to the sources, the agreement would be signed during a ceremony in Quezon City hosted by the Philippines’ Department of National Defense. Delfin Lorenzana, the Philippine defence secretary, will be among those in attendance.
The Philippines Navy accepted an Indian BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited proposal costing USD 374.9 million earlier this month on 14th January to deliver Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile systems. The contract award announcement was also posted on the Philippine government’s Department of Defense website. As part of the procurement process, a delegation from the Philippine Navy visited the BrahMos Aerospace production facility in Hyderabad in December. Lorenzana has stated that the Philippine Marines’ Coastal Defensive Regiment will be the major user of “this new strategic defence capacity of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
The BrahMos export order would be the country’s largest in this industry, and it is likely to push India into the ranks of arms exporter countries since further orders for the missile are predicted from other friendly countries as well.
The agreement with the Philippines might pave the way for more sales of the BrahMos – which has a range of 290 kilometers and can carry a 200-kg bomb – to other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia, which have been in discussions for the weapon system for several years.
