BrahMos for the UAE: Decoding the strategic significance of India's missile deal

India’s expanding defence partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is entering a new phase with the two countries discussing the possible export of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This negotiation indicates a change in India’s strategy from being a major arms importer to a credible defence exporter. This also indicates the growing strategic convergence between New Delhi and Abu Dhabi amidst an evolving regional security environment in the Middle East. If finalised, this agreement would not only strengthen bilateral defence cooperation between the two nations, but it will also reinforce India’s emergence as a trusted security partner in West Asia.

In the past decade, India and the UAE have steadily expanded their relationship from one centred primarily on energy, trade, and diaspora into a multidimensional strategic partnership including defence, technology, investment, maritime security, and critical infrastructure. With the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement in 2017, defence cooperation has become one of the fastest-growing pillars of engagement. These have been cemented through regular high-level political exchanges, military-to-military interactions, joint military exercises, intelligence cooperation, counterterrorism collaboration, and defence industrial engagement, collectively strengthening the mutual trust between the two nations.

The recent high-level discussions related to defence between both sides indicate that security cooperation is entering a more advanced phase. India and the UAE are looking forward to exploring long-term defence industrial cooperation involving trade in indigenous military technologies. This development indicates the growing confidence in India’s defence manufacturing capabilities as well as the UAE’s efforts to diversify its military procurement beyond its traditional suppliers. BrahMos supersonic cruise missile is also regarded as one of the world’s fastest operational cruise missiles, which has the capability of striking both maritime and land targets at supersonic speeds and with high precision. It will not be wrong to say that BrahMos has emerged as the flagship product of India’s defence export portfolio. The Philippines became its first overseas customer in 2022 through a landmark contract worth approximately US$375 million, demonstrating India’s ability to export complex strategic weapon systems. A successful agreement with the UAE would significantly expand the international footprint for BrahMos. The strategic significance of a BrahMos acquisition by the UAE goes beyond its military capabilities. The UAE faces evolving security challenges ranging from missile threats and drone attacks to maritime security concerns in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and adjoining maritime domain. A long-range precision strike capability of BrahMos would substantially strengthen the UAE’s deterrence posture while complementing its broader modernisation programme.

As the region tries to become more self-dependent in its security, it has been observed that they need to create an enduring security infrastructure and not have an episodic approach towards it. To this effect, the Emiratis are showing a growing interest in India’s indigenous air defence command-and-control system, Akashteer, which also shows the expanding scope of bilateral defence cooperation. Akashteer gained considerable international attention following its demonstrated ability to integrate multiple air defence assets, sensors, and radar networks into one unified command architecture capable of responding rapidly to aerial threats. As modern warfare increasingly depends upon network-centric operations rather than isolated weapon platforms, systems like Akashteer provide an integrated solution for managing complex air defence environments involving missiles, drones, aircraft, and electronic warfare. For the UAE, integrating sophisticated command-and-control technologies could significantly improve its operational effectiveness against emerging asymmetric threats. The combination of offensive capabilities like BrahMos and defensive integration through Akashteer would provide a comprehensive enhancement to the UAE’s military posture while simultaneously opening new opportunities for long-term technical cooperation with India.

For decades, India’s defence industry remained largely focused on meeting domestic requirements while depending heavily on foreign suppliers for critical technologies. However, recent policy reforms, sustained investments in indigenous research and development, greater private sector participation, and the Indian government’s emphasis on self-reliance changed the course for Indian policymaking. In the past few years, Indian defence exports have witnessed unprecedented growth over the past decade, expanding from modest levels to record figures today. Indigenous platforms such as the BrahMos missile, Dornier aircraft, coastal surveillance systems, artillery guns, patrol vessels, radars, electronic warfare equipment, protective gear, and various missile systems are garnering international interest. Equally important is the changing nature of India’s defence exports. Rather than exporting only basic military equipment, India is increasingly offering sophisticated, high-value strategic systems involving missiles, integrated air defence networks, electronic warfare capabilities, and advanced naval platforms. This transition significantly enhances India’s positioning in the global defence market while generating economic benefits, strengthening domestic industrial ecosystems, and supporting long-term technological innovation.

The prospective UAE deal could become another achievement within this broader export strategy for New Delhi, as this would strengthen the latter’s reputation as a dependable supplier capable of delivering advanced military technologies to trusted strategic partners. Success in the Gulf region could also enhance India’s credibility amongst other regional states seeking to diversify their defence procurement portfolios amid changing geopolitical dynamics. From the geopolitical perspective, enhanced India-UAE defence cooperation reflects converging strategic interests across multiple domains. Both countries share concerns regarding maritime security, freedom of navigation, counterterrorism, piracy, protection of critical infrastructure, cyber security, and regional stability. Their cooperation has expanded steadily through naval exercises, defence dialogues, intelligence exchanges, and institutional mechanisms designed to improve interoperability between their armed forces. So, enhanced defence cooperation therefore contributes not only to bilateral security but also to wider regional maritime resilience.

The defence partnership also complements the remarkable expansion of India-UAE economic relations through CEPA, which entered into force in 2022 and has accelerated bilateral trade, investment, logistics, digital connectivity, and industrial cooperation. At present, the UAE ranks among India’s most important trading partners, while both countries are actively collaborating in sectors ranging from renewable energy and semiconductors to food security, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. Defence cooperation therefore represents another pillar reinforcing an already comprehensive strategic relationship. India’s expanding defence engagement with the UAE, therefore, reflects its broader strategic shift towards viewing West Asia as a key geopolitical partner beyond energy security and diaspora. Simultaneously, the UAE’s pursuit of diversified strategic partnerships aligns with India’s growing defence capabilities, strategic autonomy, and indigenous defence industry, strengthening bilateral security cooperation and long-term regional stability.

Finally, the ongoing discussions surrounding BrahMos and other indigenous Indian defence systems indicate a larger transformation in bilateral relations. The India-UAE partnership is steadily evolving from one defined by trade and energy into one characterised by strategic trust, technological collaboration, defence industrial cooperation, and shared regional security interests. If the proposed defence agreements materialise, they will not merely represent successful arms exports but will mark another milestone in India’s emergence as a significant defence manufacturing power and reinforce one of the most dynamic strategic partnerships with the West Asian region. The discussion related to the BrahMos deal suggests that India-UAE relations are entering a new phase in which security cooperation will increasingly serve as a central pillar of an already comprehensive and future-oriented partnership.

The author is an assistant professor at Amity Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (AIDSS), Amity University, Noida.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not represent the institution.