During the recent India-Pakistan military conflict, BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles played a crucial role, effectively disabling the air defence and strike capabilities of the adversary and crippling its ability to mount a counter-offensive. This was the first time that BrahMos—a joint venture between India and Russia—was used in combat.
A supersonic cruise missile with a range of 300–600 km and speeds up to Mach 3—carrying a 200–300 kg warhead—BrahMos has grabbed global attention for its precision strikes. Before being used in an actual battlefield, the multi-role, multi-platform precision strike missile had been successfully tested several times in ship-to-ship, ship-to-shore, shore-to-ship, ground-to-ground, air-to-ground and air-to-sea configurations.
The successful deployment of the weapon, which has sea, land, and air variants, in the conflict may have increased its export value even as a few countries have already expressed interest in the procurement.
The “fire and forget” BrahMos is dubbed as one of the fastest and most precise cruise missiles in the world. Perhaps, the biggest endorsement for BrahMos came from none other than Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif when he claimed that the supersonic cruise missile caused damage in various locations in Pakistan during the military conflict.
“On the night of May 9-10, we decided to respond in a measured fashion to Indian aggression...And we had decided that at 4:30 in the morning after Fajr prayers, Pakistan armed forces led very ably by our field marshal chief army staff sitting here, Syed Asim Munir to teach a lesson to our enemy," the PM said. “But before that hour reached India again launched missile attacks, and BrahMos hit Pakistan's various provinces including airport in Rawalpindi and other places,” he added.
India has already sent the second batch of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines as part of a $375 million deal signed between the two countries in 2022.
A few more countries have already shown interest in procuring the missile. Earlier this year, Secretary and Chairman Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr Samir V. Kamat had said, "Indonesia is interested...There are other countries also who have shown interest in BrahMos... Some countries in the Middle East and some other countries in Southeast Asia.”
Media reports suggest that India is in talks with Vietnam and an agreement is likely in the next few months. Besides Vietnam, Malaysia, UAE, Chile and South Africa are reported to have shown interest in procuring the weapon. According to some reports, as many as 15 countries have expressed interest in the weapon.
BrahMos has now gained a place of prominence in India’s defence export ambitions and has become a symbol of the country's emergence as a credible, battle-tested arms supplier in line with the Union government's initiative to achieve self-reliance in the defence sector. The missile's accomplishments in the military conflict with Pakistan may make it all the more desirable to countries looking to procure a long-range highly effective supersonic cruise missile.
