The Philippines is set to become the first export customer of the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile in 2020, according to the country’s Department of National Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Responding to the possibility of the Philippines adding the missile to its inventory, Lorenzana said on Monday that the contract-signing for the BrahMos would take place in the early part of 2020.
“Signing of the contract will be in 2020. Possibly in the first or second quarter,” he was reported as saying by the Philippines News Agency.
He said the country will acquire two batteries of the missile, with each battery including three mobile autonomous launchers with two to three missile tubes each.
The Philippines Army is expected to acquire the missile, which could also be used by the Philippines Air Force. The procurement will be via the government-to-government model, Lorenzana added.
The country had earlier expressed its interest in the missile, which is touted as the world’s fastest cruise missile with a speed of Mach 2.8 and range of 290km. Earlier last week, Lorenzana asserted that the country had funds to acquire it.
"There is money for it as per our modernization program," Lorenzana earlier said when asked on whether the Philippines can support or provide funds for the acquisition of the missiles which was jointly developed by Russia and India.
At the time, Philippine Army officials visited the Indian Shivalik-class stealth guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri, which are capable of carrying BrahMos missiles.
“The Philippine Army is interested in acquiring this type of missile as it will strengthen our coastal defence operations,” Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, an Army spokesperson told the Manila Bulletin in October.
The Philippines is undergoing a modernisation programme for its military, with PHP300 billion ($5.9 billion) earmarked for the procurement of equipment between 2018 and 2022.
The country faces tensions with China in the South China Sea, where it contests parts of the Spratly Islands. China seized the Scarborough Shoal after a standoff in 2012 and in 2019, a Chinese ship rammed a Philippines fishing vessel.
