The Philippines has announced the procurement of the BrahMos medium-range supersonic cruise missile under the third horizon of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP).
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"Philippine Army’s acquisition of BrahMos is programmed under the 3rd Horizon (2023-2027) of the RAFPMP. Hence, the army is yet to acquire said units since we are still on the second Horizon (2018-2022) wherein some of the programmed acquisitions are still in progress," Col. Xerxes Trinidad, spokesperson of the Philippines Army (PA) said in a message to the Philippine News Agency.
Trinidad added that the Army is set to get two BrahMos batteries which will be used for coastal defense missions. "The acquisition of two batteries will serve as the general support artillery unit in coastal defense that will (complement) the joint force in territorial defense."
Trinidad noted that the BrahMos missile met the PA requirement of Ground-Based Anti-Ship Missile (GBASM) and the mission of the field artillery to destroy, neutralize and suppress the enemy through cannon, rocket fires.
"The concept of coastal defense implies the application of an in-depth defense. As such, defenses have to provide much further into the sea to weaken advancing enemy forces and much further inland to protect against envelopment and isolation," Trinidad said.
Earlier, Department of National Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that the deliveries of the BrahMos for the Philippine Navy (PN)'s Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System Acquisition Project is expected to start within a year. On December 31, Lorenzana signed the Notice of Award for the Navy BrahMos' acquisition project which is a government-to-government deal signed with India. The notice of award document for the acquisition of the Brahmos missile system was released on January 12.
Lorenzana said, "negotiated with the Government of India, it includes the delivery of three batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package […] Coastal Defense Regiment of the Philippine Marines will be the primary employer of this modern strategic defence capability of the AFP”.
The Philippine government will spend about $375 million for the system’s procurement. With this agreement, the Philippines becomes the first export customer of the system.
The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land. It is notably one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world. It is a joint venture between the Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
