India-Russia JV Wants To Sell Supersonic Cruise Missiles To Middle Eastern Countries

A senior executive at BrahMos Aerospace said that the company, which is a partnership between India and Russia, is looking to sell its BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to countries in the Middle East and South-East Asia to meet growing demand.

BrahMos is a cruise missile that can carry nuclear weapons and is one of the fastest in the world. It can be fired from land, sea, or the air. The names of the missile come from two rivers: the Brahmaputra in India and the Moskva in Russia.

Last year, the Philippines government gave the Delhi-based defence company its first order worth $375 million.

The company mostly sells missiles to the Indian army, navy, and air force. Between $5 billion and $6 billion worth of orders are already on the books until 2025.

“BrahMos Aerospace is in serious talks to sell missiles to nine countries, six of which are in Southeast Asia and three of which are in the Middle East,” Atul D Rane, the company’s CEO and managing director, told The National on Wednesday at the International Defense Exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

“We are always making improvements to how well the missiles work, and the current global conflict has shown that more of them are needed by everyone, all the time. We expect even more orders to fill our books with the current version until 2028 and 2029.”

It wants to sell its goods in “friendly foreign countries that India and Russia have both agreed to.”

Europe is more politically tense because of the war in Ukraine. This has caused many countries to spend more on their military, which gives defence companies a chance to get big contracts.

“At the same time, we are working on a newer version of BrahMos. It will have the same range and speed, but it will be much smaller and two of them will fit on an aeroplane to launch “Mr Rane said.

The newer version of the missile is expected to start testing in the air within the next three years.

BrahMos Aerospace is funded by the governments of India and Russia, but it is set up as a private limited company with three production centres in Hyderabad, Nagpur, and Pilani. India has a 50.5% share in the business.

More than 1,000 people work for the company, and it has partnerships with 200 businesses in India to get parts, systems, and sub-systems for making missiles. Russian industry also helps the company get the raw materials it needs.

“We have a supply chain and can produce at any rate that is needed. We can supply whoever needs it at whatever speed they need.” We have steady production lines,” he said, adding that the company hasn’t had any problems because of problems with the global supply chain caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

BrahMos Aerospace wants to keep working with Russia even though some western countries are trying to cut Russia off because of the Ukraine war.

“It was the West, not India, that put Russia on its own,” Mr. Rane said.

“We are trusted partners who work together. We haven’t had any problems so far, and we don’t think we will (in the future).”

India, which has the third-largest economy in Asia, is spending more on defence because of problems with China. It increased its defence budget by 13% from the previous year, to 5.94 trillion rupees ($72.6 billion) for the fiscal year 2023–24.