What Is BrahMos? Philippines Looks To Fastest Cruise Missile As China's Threat Looms

Philippines' move to acquire BrahMos, the Indo-Russian supersonic cruise missile which is nearly three times faster than sound, is expected to step up its firepower, especially in the face of the country's growing disputes with China.

Manila and New Delhi Tuesday signed the pact to facilitate government-to-government deals on military hardware, including the potential supply of BrahMos missiles which can travel at a speed of Mach 2.8, reports Hindustan Times.

"We are buying the BrahMos missiles," the report quoted Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Brahmos, which India test-fired last September, is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster as the first stage and a liquid ramjet as the second stage. The missile comes under the ‘standoff range weapons’ category which helps the attacker to evade defensive fire from the enemy. The latest versions of BrahMos missiles have an extended range of around 400 kilometers, compared to its initial range of 290 kilometers. Advanced versions with higher ranges are in the pipeline.

India has deployed BrahMos missiles along India’s land borders. Besides, the supersonic missile can hit sea-based targets beyond the radar horizon. The naval version, successful in both sea-to-sea and sea-to-land modes, can be launched either as a single unit or as a salvo up to eight in numbers, with 2.5-second intervals. The latest version of the cruise missile can also be fired from a submarine, which is around 50 meters below the water surface.

With mounting Chinese aggression, Manila had been looking to acquire cruise missiles for some time. Jose Antonio Custodio, a security and defense consultant, told South China Morning Post that "the opponent here is China."

“We do need these missiles to strengthen our defense against China.” He added that the Philippines could mount the BrahMos on ships. “We have the modern ships to launch them, actually,” he said. “We have the platforms, like frigates from South Korea, and the Hamilton cutters from the US, but we don’t have the budget to configure the ships.”

Relations between the two countries have been frosty for some time, with the recent intrusion of Chinese ships into Philippine waters angering Manila. The new Chinese law which authorized its Coast Guard to fire on foreign vessels and structures in Chinese-claimed reefs, had met with stiff protest from the Philippines which described it “virtual declaration of war.”

While cash-strapped Manila had earlier decided to shelve the move to procure BrahMos due to the Covid-induced financial situation, reports said New Delhi offered a $100 million line-of-credit to the Philippines.

However, Manila gave no details about how the deal went about.

According to Philippine security blog MaxDefense, funding could be an issue, and "the credit line being extended by India to the Philippines government might be used, and may even be expanded beyond the $100 million credit peak.”

India has been aiming to enhance its defense exports to improve strategic relations with friendly foreign countries.