India has bagged a $375 million deal to export BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the
Philippines.
The Philippines’ Department of National Defence has issued the “notice of award”
to the BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd.
The country will get three missile batteries of the shore-based anti-ship systems of the
BrahMos.
The deal also includes training for operators and maintainers and logistical support.
With this, the Philippines would be the first country to purchase Brahmos.
While this particular contract is for the Navy, the next bigger contract for the Philippines
Army is also in the pipeline.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why the Philippines acquiring BrahMos supersonic
cruise missiles is very bad news for China?
Let's get started.
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The Philippines has several bitter tiffs with China over territorial claims in the South
China Sea.
The country has been at the receiving end of Chinese hegemonic actions.
Viewers may note that after Chinese vessels blockaded Philippine boats and seized control
of Scarborough Shoal in 2012, Manila took Beijing to the Permanent Court of Arbitration
in The Hague in the case known as the Philippines vs China.
The three-year legal proceedings resulted in a win for the Philippines, with arbitrators
determining that China's claims had no legal basis under the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea.
China rejected the ruling in full.
Just a few months ago tensions rose when China tried to capture an atoll, known in the Philippines
as Ayungin Shoal.
The shoal is 40 kilometers or 25 miles from Mischief Reef, which the Chinese occupied
in 1994 and where it built huge facilities in 2013 and 2014.
The Chinese economy and military are much stronger when compared to the Philippines.
For example, In the report submitted to Congress annually, the Pentagon has stated: “The
PRC has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350
ships and submarines including over 130 major surface combatants.
In comparison, the US Navy’s battle force is approximately 293 ships as of early 2020.”
Manila’s military is one of the most poorly equipped in Asia.
The Philippines cannot compete with China platform by platform and hence only asymmetric
warfare is being seen as an option by the nation.
In this situation, Brahmos has been chosen after a lot of deliberation.
The new anti-ship system is aimed at deterring foreign vessels especially Chinese ones from
encroaching on the country’s 200-nautical-mile or 370km exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“It’s part of our territorial defense,” said Colonel Ramon Zagala, spokesman for the
Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Brahmos is developed jointly by India's Defense Research & Development Organization (DRDO)
and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya.
It is powered by a Ramjet engine having a range of around 290 km or 180 miles.
It has been made compatible with different platforms, from a warship to a submarine to
a fighter jet and even a land-based launcher.
Brahmos is currently considered to be one of the most deadly cruise missiles in the
world.
The reason is its features.
1.
It has a supersonic speed of Mach 3 or 1 km per second 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.
Brahmos 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.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend - the ancient proverb holds very true for this deal.
It is not just a commercial transaction but one that carries geo-political significance.
With an eye on China’s aggressive maneuver in the Indo-Pacific, India has been stepping
up military ties with ASEAN countries through combat exercises, exchanges, training programs,
and now increasingly weapon supplies under the “Act East” policy over the years.
India has also supported the freedom of navigation and overflight for all in the South China
Sea in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
India is also trying to build a robust domestic defense industry and become an arms exporter.
For the Philippines, the weapon will be a game-changer as it will have a way to strike
back at China.