Cruise missiles delivery set for December, says maker

FASTEST India’s BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles are shown here mounted on a truck in this file photo. —REUTERS

CAVITE CITY—The Philippines will take delivery of its first batch of state-of-the-art supersonic cruise missiles by year-end, defense contractor BrahMos Aerospace said on Thursday at the Philippine Fleet Defense Expo in Sangley Point here.

“Hopefully, there will be no extreme weather conditions. We are moving full ahead to achieve our goals,” BrahMos director for market promotion and export Praveen Pathak told reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural exhibit at Naval Base Heracleo Alano.

The delivery will include the missiles themselves, mobile launchers and other equipment and will be shipped from India in December, Pathak said.

The Philippines, with the support of then Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, ordered in December 2021 three batteries of cruise missiles, worth about P18.9 billion, as part of the Navy’s shore-based antiship missile system project. The purchase also includes training for operators and maintainers. The Philippine Marine Corps’ Coastal Defense Regiment will be the primary user of the BrahMos system.

Pathak is optimistic that they will soon sign a similar deal with the Philippine Army which expressed interest in getting two more batteries as part of its ground-based antiship missile system requirements.

“Most of all the technical issues have been finalized,” Pathak said. “We are very much positive that the Army will follow the footsteps of the Marines and we will sign a contract very soon.”

The Army’s order could not be finalized in 2021 because it had not completed deliveries for its second Horizon modernization program, which expired last year.

Pathak said there was no fixed timeline yet, but BrahMos was expecting to finalize the Army order this year.

BrahMos, a joint venture between Russia and India, is a portmanteau from the names of the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moskva River in Russia. “As the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles, the BrahMos missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippines Sea,” Lorenzana said during the signing of the 2021 contract.

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