Historic deal for India- Philippines approves BrahMos deal

Some quick facts of this weapon- BrahMos

• BrahMos is a medium-range supersonic cruise missile which means that it can be controlled towards pre-determined land-or-sea based targets.
• Furthermore, it is classified as a supersonic cruise missile because it can achieve a speed of 2.8 times the speed of sound.
• It is a joint project between India and Russia. (JV b/w India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPOM)
• It is a versatile and lethal weapon hence can be launched from land, ships, submarine, and aircraft.

Details

• The BrahMos deal was conceptualized in 2017 but faced delays because of budget constraints and the covid-19 pandemic.
• But now, The Philippines is all set to acquire anti-ship BrahMos missiles from India.
• The deal is worth around 374 million dollars. ($374.96mn)
• India has offered a $100-million line of credit to the Philippines for defense purposes.
• Line of credit is a masterstroke of India’s defense policy. It means that from the total 374 million dollars, the first 100 dollars need not pay immediately. EMI is okay for a long time.
• Although it is not yet clear as to how many of BrahMos they are buying or what are the specification but report says that an Indian delegation will fly to Manila next week to sign the paper.
• Apart from this, India has also been in talks with several Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, over the past few years.
• So, it is quite possible that these countries will also buy BrahMos after the Philippines.

The reason why the deal is important to India?

• The BrahMos deal is going to be a huge boost to the Make in India Program.
• It surely is the foundation and marks India as the arms exporter of weapons on the world stage.
• The weapon industry is a very complicated marketplace nowadays and India is not behind in the race.

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