India and the Philippines have taken a step that could have serious ramifications for China
in the hotly contested South China Sea region.
The Philippines has signed a contract that could
see it acquiring the Brahmos missile system from India.
This is significant because of two factors.
1. The Philippines could be India's first customer
for the missile system giving India a foothold in the arms export market.
2. Indian arms would help Manila protect itself against Beijing
which has become an outright foe of New Delhi from being just a rival in the last few years.
This deal was inked during a sign-in ceremony in Manila
where India was represented by its ambassador to the Philippines.
It is an implementing agreement that sets up a framework for a government-to-government contract
to acquire the Brahmos missile.
The Philippines has clearly stated that it wants the system
and the country's Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana
who was witness to the sign-in ceremony declared that "We are buying the Brahmos missile"
In this video Defense Updates analyzes how India is paying back China with the same coin by selling
the Brahmos missile system to the Philippines? Let's get into the details.
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China claims almost 90% of the South China Sea through its so-called nine-dash line map.
It says that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the sea.
The wide-reaching demarcation was rejected by an arbitral tribunal at The Hague in July 2016
after a case was lodged by the Philippines against China.
Apart from the Philippines, several countries which include Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei,
and Taiwan have disputed Chinese assertions and have overlapping claims of their own.
This is the crux of the conflict between the Philippines and China.
While the rivalry between India and China has been brewing for a long time,
things have taken a turn for the worse in the last few years.
First, in 2017, there was a standoff in Doklam when China tried to illegally construct a road
and was forced to stop and later withdraw. No loss of lives occurred in this incident.
Secondly, last year the two countries faced off in the Galwan Valley
which saw a loss of lives from both sides. The was due to China's attempted encroachment.
Viewers may note that this was the first time India and China are involved in a
fierce confrontation since the deadly clashes between the two armies that took
place in Nathu La in 1967 which resulted in the death of 88 soldiers of the Indian
Army and about 300 soldiers the PLA or People’s Liberation Army of China.
Since this confrontation, Indo-China relationship has deteriorated badly.
Brahmos is developed jointly by India's Defense Research & Development Organization
(DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya. It is powered by a Ramjet engine.
Brahmos is one of the deadliest cruise missiles in the world.
The reason is its unique features.
1. It has a supersonic speed of Mach 3 providing very little time to intercept.
2. BrahMos uses a 300 kg or 660 lbs Semi-Armor piercing warhead and also has very high
Kinetic energy since Kinetic energy is directly proportional to the square of velocity. BrahMos
actually has about 9 times the Kinetic Energy of conventional subsonic missiles like Tomahawk.
The combined destructive force of massive warhead and kinetic energy is lethal for even the biggest
surface warships & bunkers. Brahmas has been known to break ships in half in several tests.
3. It can perform S maneuvers in the final stages of flight. The missile basically doesn’t move in a
straight line, making it very hard to intercept.
4. There are lots of redundancies in the guidance system - right from the INS, GPS, GLONASS and GAGAN making it hard to jam.
5. The accuracy of around 1 square meter makes it apt for a precision strike on high-value targets.
6. The basic variant of the missile has a range of 290 km or 180 miles while upgraded once
have a much larger strike envelop enabling it to strike targets from long ranges.
The Philippines has a defense budget that is a fraction of
what the Chinese spend on its military. It can't match China platform by platform
and needs an asymmetric weapon system that can cause disproportionate damage.
This is where Brahmos comes in. It could be used for coastal defense
and potentially mount massive losses to the Chinese Navy and its coast guard.
Viewers may note in this context that China has passed a new recently that allows the
Chinese coast guard to use weapons against foreign ships that it sees as
illegally entering what it thinks is its territory.
The Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest
and it's Foreign Minister has stated that it's a verbal threat of war.
The U.S Department of Defense report of 2020 indicates that China has more than doubled
the number of large coast guard ships over 1,000 tons, from about 60 in 2010 to over 130.
New Delhi has a lot to gain from this deal. It wants to touch the target of 5
billion dollars worth of Defence exports by 2025 and the Brahmos missile system will be the key.
As per reports, New Delhi is providing a $100 million
soft loan to Manila to acquire the missile and the credit line could be extended further.
It's said that Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates are keen on buying the Brahmos and
India is also having discussions on similar lines with Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia & South Africa.
Purchase by the Philippines will massively improve the export prospects.
Strategically, it will be a message for China which has been arming India's opponent Pakistan.
China has bid its time, laid low but has risen economically and militarily.
In the last decade or so it has changed its stance and has been very antagonistic in its posturing.
The recent clashes with India are a result of China's belligerent maneuvering
with the intention of land grab.
Lately, China has made more enemies than friends because of its hostile moves.
New Delhi has been accommodating in nature when it comes to Beijing's sensibilities
on several matters, but things have changed now.
India seems to have enough and now it is taking up a more proactive approach.
The same holds true for the Philippines which is
increasingly looking for ways to counter China militarily.