Russian-Indian supersonic cruise missile attracts more potential buyers

Vietnam, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly interested in buying the BrahMos system

Three more countries are considering purchasing supersonic cruise missiles developed by Russian-Indian consortium BrahMos Aerospace, after the Philippines received its first batch earlier this year, the joint managing director of the corporation told TASS on Wednesday.

Vietnam, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates are in talks with the New Delhi-based consortium to buy BrahMos missiles, Aleksandr Maksichev said. The three countries are reportedly among those most interested in the systems, although Maksichev did not specify the stage of any negotiations.

Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were also earlier named as potential buyers of the missiles.

The Philippines became the first foreign buyer of the BrahMos, receiving its first batch of the missiles in April under a $375 million deal signed in 2022.

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Named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, the BrahMos missile is the result of collaboration between India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, a rocket design bureau based in Moscow Region.

Widely deployed by the Indian military since 2005, the versatile missile system can engage sea-based and surface targets across air, sea, and sub-sea platforms. The original range of 290km (180 miles) has been extended up to 500km through upgrades.

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The missile’s cruise speed in close to Mach 3, or roughly 1km per second, which is three times faster than the speed of sound.