The Cabinet Committee on Security has given its approval for India to buy more than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and related systems to put on its warships. The purchase is expected to cost around Rs.19,000 crore, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to reporters on Thursday.
They said that these weapons will be a mix of BrahMos missiles with a range of 290 km and its extended range version with a range of almost 500 km. The officials did not want to be named. Hindustan Times has learned that the deal will likely be signed before the end of the fiscal year 2023–24.
This cruise missile is the fastest in the world. Its top speed is Mach 2.8, which is almost three times the speed of sound. Three different types of BrahMos can be fired from land, air, and sea. All three are used by the Indian military.
Also, India will send BrahMos missiles to the Philippines in March. This comes two years after the two countries agreed to spend almost $375 million on the missiles to arm the Philippine Marines. This is the first order for the BrahMos rocket that was made by India and Russia.
India wants to send Rs.35,000 crore worth of defense goods abroad by 2024-25. Indian defense business Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited won an export order worth $155.5 million to send artillery guns to Armenia in November 2022. This was the first order for the 155 mm weapon system that a company in India had won. By 2025, Kalyani will carry out the plan. Iran agreed to sell the Pinaka rocket system to Armenia, which led to that sale.
South American, African, Central Asian, and Southeast Asian countries are also interested in the weapons and systems that India makes.
Last year, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, the head of the Indian Air Force, called for the creation of a smaller version of the BrahMos missile for fighter jets like the MiG-29, Mirage 2000, and the Indian-made light combat aircraft Tejas. He stressed that the weapon could be very useful for attacking land.
At the moment, only IAF Sukhoi-30MKI fighters have the 2.5-ton Balaram missile that can be fired from the air. The land and naval versions of the rocket are 500 kg heavier than the air version that is currently in use.
As HT wrote before, the smaller missile, called BrahMos-next generation, will likely weigh 1.2 tonnes and be more deadly than the current air-launched form.
India is also laying the grounds for making a BrahMos missile with an even longer range that can hit targets more than 800 km away.
The country improved its ability to keep an eye on the Indian Ocean area and quickly launch an offensive option if needed in 2020. This was made possible by the IAF putting its Su-30 fighters on display for the first time in southern India at the Thanjavur air force station in Tamil Nadu.
These planes have the version of the BrahMos missile that can be fired from the air. The Indian Air Force can use it to hit targets on land and at sea from far away with perfect accuracy in any weather.
The navy’s newest guided missile destroyer, INS Imphal, was put into service in December. It was the first Indian cruiser to fire a BrahMos missile before it was put into service.
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