Philippines approves purchase of BrahMos cruise missiles with India for its navy

Philippines on Friday accepted BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd's to supply Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System Acquisition Project for its navy. The proposal is worth $374,9 million. The Notice of Award has been communicated to BrahMos officials by the Philippines Department of National Defense.

This week, on January 11, the Indian Navy and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully test-fired BrahMos Supersonic Cruise missile.

The missile is a joint venture between India and Russia where DRDO represents the Indian side.

The missile was tested from INS Visakhapatnam which is the latest warship of the Indian Navy inducted recently.

BrahMos is the main weapon system of the Indian Navy warships and has been deployed on almost all of its surface platforms.

An underwater version is also being developed which will not only be used by the submarines of India but will also be offered for export to friendly foreign nations.

BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound. Senior scientist Atul Dinkar Rane has been appointed as the new head of the BrahMos Aerospace Limited and he has worked with the firm since its inception days.

India is likely to bag more orders for the missile system from friendly countries as it is negotiating at an advanced stage with some other nations too.