India To Export Brahmos Missiles To Friendly Nations, Say Sources
25 August, 2020
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of India and Russia, is one of the platforms which can be exported to friendly nations.
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture of India and Russia, is one of the platforms which can be exported to friendly nations. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) which is in the process of readying a list of military items that can be exported has BrahMos Missiles among other items. “After fulfilling the requirements of the Indian armed forces, BrahMos missile can be exported to third countries,” sources have confirmed to Financial Express Online.
The BrahMos Missile which has been designed developed and produced jointly by India and Russia has generated a lot of interest globally and both governments of both countries are ready to export this supersonic missile to other countries.
Brahmos Pavilion Gets Huge Traffic In Moscow
The India-Russia Brahmos JV pavilion at the India Pavilion at the Army-2020 International Military and Technical Forum has been receiving a lot of attention. According to the Embassy of India in Moscow, the Indian Pavilion was inaugurated by Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar and Indian Ambassador DB Venkatesh Verma.
The defence secretary production is in Moscow accompanied by a high-level official and business delegation which has representatives of private sector companies for Army-2020. The weeklong event (Aug 23-29) has been organized by the Russian Defence Ministry. India is one of the 70 nations who are attending the event where the Russian industry has displayed its military ware including tanks and armoured vehicles made there locally are on display.
Exporting BrahMos
The missile has caught the attention of countries from South America to ASEAN nations, as well as Eastern European countries — they all are keen to buy the BrahMos which is a joint venture between India and Russia.
Several countries including Brazil, Chile, the Philippines, South Korea, Algeria, Greece, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Egypt, Singapore, and Bulgaria have been expressing their interest for almost a while and the discussions have gone to the next level.
From the Gulf Region, UAE has expressed its keenness to buy this missile, however, there has been no forward movement on this. As has been reported by Financial Express Online earlier, “The UAE enjoys good relations with both India and Russia and there is no conflict of interest. There would be no problems if the missile is exported to that country,” a source said.
Talks were in an advanced stage with Vietnam and Indonesia, but there has been no further development.
More About Brahmos Aerospace
It was established in 1998 as a joint venture — NPO Mashinostroyeniya and Defence Research and Development Organisation and forming BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The BrahMos is a short-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile. It can be launched from aircraft, land, submarines or ships and has been developed at a low budget of $ 300 million.
And, as has been reported by Financial Express Online, under the IGA which was signed in 1998 between the two countries, the issue of exporting to a third country will be decided jointly by the two countries. And the export to a third country will be done after the necessary intergovernmental procedures have been cleared in both countries.
The BrahMos NG, because of its shorter dimensions has greater export potential as it can be compatible with most platforms which are being used by friendly nations.
South American nation Chile has been keen to buy this missile and has been in constant talks with both India and Russia. As per the local laws, BrahMos Aerospace is already registered with Chilean Armed Forces. A top diplomat confirmed that “Since BrahMos NG can be accommodated on sea and air platforms, there has been a lot of interest from the government of Chile and their armed forces for ship and shore-based platforms.”
The NG of BrahMos has a shorter dimension is lighter and mightier to its predecessor variant and can go up to Mach 3.5.
BrahMos Aerospace has been actively participating in various expos in the South American Region including FIDAE show in Chile and is likely to put up a stand at the XII version of EXPONAVAL will be held at Con Naval Base and Valparaiso in Chile.
However, according to sources, “the event which is expected to take place from Dec 1-4 is expected to be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.” The Commander of the Chilean Navy has invited the Indian Navy Chief and has invited one of the Indian Navy warships to attend the event at Valparaiso and also M/s BrahMos.”
Courtesy: Opera News/ financialexpress.com