India delivers 1st batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to Philippines

India delivered the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines yesterday. According to official sources, the first batch was delivered onboard transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force. The Philippines is acquiring the systems under Horizon Two of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Programme. In January 2022, the Philippines concluded a 375-million-dollar deal with India for three batteries of the shore-based, anti-ship variant of the BrahMos, becoming the first export customer for the joint venture missile between India and Russia.

BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, and the missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. It has a flight range of up to 290 kilometres at supersonic speed. It carries a conventional warhead weighing two hundred to three hundred kilograms. The missile is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea, and air against surface and sea-based targets and has been long inducted by the Indian armed forces.