The Indian Embassy in Manila confirmed during India’s 75th Independence Day celebrations in mid-August that the Brahmos missile system is expected to be delivered to the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the first time in 2023 (AFP).
“We expect the delivery to take place sometime next year, we don’t have a specific date, but we are working hard for next year,” state-run Philippine News Agency quoted Indian Ambassador to the Philippines Shambu Kumaran as saying.
On January 28, the Philippine Department of Defense (DND) signed a contract worth $375 million for the purchase of the Indo-Russian BrahMos medium-range supersonic cruise missile.
The agreement requires three missile companies, each comprising mobile launchers — each armed with three missiles — and associated data links and tracking systems.
Depending on the variant, the BrahMos cruise missile can be launched from ships, aircraft, submarines or land-based launchers and has a top speed of about Mach 2.8. It can carry warheads weighing up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms).
The Philippine Marine Corps Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile (SBASM) Battalion, activated in April, will operate the anti-ship missile system. SBASM personnel were sent to India for training in June.
The Marines also activated a new unit called the Shore-Based Air Defense System (SBADS) battalion.according to AFP SBADS will protect SBASM assets from aerial threats during anti-ship missile launch operations, the news agency said.
Both SBASM and SBADS are sub-groups of the Marine Corps Coastal Defense Regiment, which was also recently formed in August 2020.
The Philippine Army is also lining up to purchase two BrahMos batteries for coastal defense missions under the third horizon of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Revised Modernization Program (RAFPMP), which runs from 2023 to 2027.
by Jr Ng
