In a huge boost to India’s defence exports, BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd, the Indo-Russian multinational aerospace and defence corporation, has bagged a $375 million (Rs.2,770 crore) contract to export the 290-km range BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines.
On January 14, the Philippines’ Department of National Defence issued the long-awaited, pandemic-delayed “Notice of Award” to BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd for at least three missile batteries of the BrahMos’ shore-based anti-ship missile variant. Under the contract, the Philippines will also receive the necessary training for its operators and the requisite logistics support. The BrahMos missile systems will be a part of the coastal defence deployment of the Philippines Navy.
Incidentally, the export of BrahMos is India’s first major military export. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are also reportedly interested in acquiring the Brahmos missile system.
The Notice of Award is part of the Southeast Asian archipelago nation’s “Acquisition Project” to acquire a “Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System” for the Philippines Navy and comes at a time when the Philippines has been drawn into several skirmishes with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea.
India’s ties with the Philippines have been upgraded over the past few years, with the two countries having signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Defence and Logistics in 2018. In 2020, an MoU on Sharing of White Shipping Information (non-military/non-government shipping vessel information) was signed. In 2019, the Philippine Navy participated in a group sail in the South China Sea along with the navies of India, the United States and Japan.
As part of its “Act East” policy, India has been stepping up military ties with ASEAN countries. India has also been a strong advocate of freedom of navigation and overflight for all in the South China Sea in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
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