India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) announced on January 25 that "the BrahMos missile** contract with the Philippines will begin shipping within 10 days and will arrive in the Philippines in March." "In January 2022, the Philippines signed a contract with BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, for the purchase of three BrahMos missiles for a total price of 3$7.5 billion. This ** is the first batch of goods under the contract.
However, the timing is delicate. Since last year, the Philippines has been provoking China over the territorial issue of the Spratly Islands. Wu Qian, a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, warned on January 25 about the Philippines' construction of military posts in the Spratly Islands, "If the Philippines continues to insist on going its own way, China will resolutely fight back." On the same day, India announced the shipment of BrahMos missiles.
The Philippines' naval power is insignificant compared to China's. It is said that the only missile used by the Philippines to attack the sea boat is a modified version of the "Spike" anti-tank missile, which has a range of 6 km. The BrahMos missiles provided to the Philippines this time are cutting-edge missiles that are incomparable with existing missiles. Some in the Philippines have called it "a missile that ushered in the hypersonic era and will be a game-changer."
The BrahMos missile is a modification of the Russian Navy's supersonic anti-ship missile P-800 "Onyx", which entered service in 2005. The missile is equipped with a ramjet engine and can reach a top speed of Mach 3, making it one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world. With a range of up to 290 km, it can fly at low altitudes, making it difficult to be caught and intercepted by radar. Allegedly, the missile is equipped with an inertial navigation device, a satellite navigation device and an active radar terminal guidance device, which is capable of accurately striking targets with electronic interference within 1 meter of error.
According to the analysis of military experts, India's provision of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines can enhance the Philippines' military strength and enable it to confront China in the South China Sea. This would pose a threat to China's military power in the South China Sea and force China to deploy more military resources to the South China Sea, thereby reducing China's military pressure elsewhere. India could take the opportunity to encroach on more of China's territory.
In addition, India hopes to open up the Southeast Asian arms market and expand India's arms exports by exporting BrahMos missiles to the Philippines.
India has always wanted to become a regional power and actively play a greater role in regional affairs. Providing BrahMos missiles to the Philippines would increase India's influence in the Philippines and demonstrate India's leadership in regional security matters.
All in all, India's announcement to provide BrahMos missiles to the Philippines is an important move in its regional strategy and foreign policy, which will have a far-reaching impact on the situation in the South China Sea and the security landscape of the Indo-Pacific region.