In a major development for the Indian Navy, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has granted authorization for the acquisition of over 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and related equipment. The estimated cost of this procurement is approximately ₹19,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

A formal agreement to roll out the process of induction of the weapons into the Indian Navy between BrahMos Aerospace and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to be signed early next month, said government sources.

The missiles will largely be deployed on various warships to enhance the overall combat capabilities of the Navy, they said.

The CCS-approved proposal includes the purchase of a combination of BrahMos missiles, featuring versions with a range of approximately 290 km, as well as the latest extended-range variant, which boasts a reach of around 450 km.

The move comes after the Indian Navy successfully tested the supersonic cruise missile, which has an extended range of 400 to 500 km, from a Rajput class frigate in the Bay of Bengal on November 1. Later in the same month, another test fire to test the extended range of the supersonic cruise missile was carried out from a Kolkata/Visakhapatnam class-guided destroyer.

BrahMos is the fastest cruise missile in the world with a speed of Mach 2.8, nearly three times the speed of sound. BrahMos variants can be launched from land, air, and sea, and all three variants are in service in the Indian armed forces.

Furthermore, India is scheduled to deliver BrahMos missiles to the Philippines in March. This comes two years after the signing of a nearly $375 million deal between the two nations, aimed at supplying the Philippine Marines with three missile batteries. Notably, this marks the first export order for the BrahMos missile, a collaborative development between India and Russia.

Brahmos Aerospace Chairperson, Atul Rane, had said last year that the missile project has achieved 75 percent indigenous capability and they were looking at a sales target of $5 billion by 2025.

India has established an ambitious defense export goal of Rs. 35,000 crores by the fiscal year 2024-25. In a significant development in November 2022, Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited, an Indian defense firm, secured an export order valued at $155.5 million. This order involves the supply of artillery guns to Armenia, marking the first instance of a local company winning an order for the 155 mm weapon system. The execution of this order by Kalyani is expected to be completed by 2025. Notably, this order follows Armenia's decision to purchase the Pinaka rocket system from India.

Countries in South America, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia have also shown interest in weapons and systems manufactured by India.

Last year, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, the Chief of the Indian Air Force, advocated for the creation of a scaled-down version of the BrahMos missile specifically designed for fighter jets like the MiG-29, Mirage 2000, and the indigenous light combat aircraft Tejas. He emphasized that such a missile could be employed with great effectiveness for land attack purposes.

Currently, only IAF’s Sukhoi-30MKI fighters are equipped with the air-launched version of the BrahMos, a 2.5-tonne missile. The missile’s land and naval variants are 500 kg heavier than the current air version.

The smaller missile, BrahMos-next generation, is expected to weigh 1.2 tonnes and be more lethal than the current air-launched version.

In 2020, India upgraded its capabilities to keep a watch on the Indian Ocean region and deliver an offensive option swiftly, if necessary, with IAF basing its Su-30 fighters in southern India for the first time, at Thanjavur air force station in Tamil Nadu.

The Navy in March 2023 ordered 200 BrahMos missiles in a deal valued at $2.5 billion, while the Indian Air Force (IAF) was the first to place the order way back in 2012 for the same quantity of quickest missile in the world for $1 billion. And the Army is reportedly equipped with five regiments of BrahMos, which comes to over 300 missiles.

All three variants of extended versions of BrahMos, a joint venture between India and Russia, have been successfully test-launched from land, air, ship, and submarines since last October.

Image source: Hindustan Times