ARMAMENTS

The BrahMos supersonic anti-ship missile, as announced, is the choice of the Philippine Navy. The missile is already in service with the Russian, Indian and Vietnamese navies.

The Minister of Defence of the Philippines, Delphine Lorenzana, announced that a Notice of Award has been issued for the “Coastal Anti-Ship Missile System Acquisition” program of the Philippine Navy in favor of the Indian Brahmos Aerospace.

The Philippines has long expressed interest in buying the BrahMos weapon system, the world’s fastest supersonic anti-ship cruise missile, but Manila was forced to put its plans on hold after the COVID-19 pandemic, thus cutting deep into its national budget. 

The BrahMos, named after the Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers in India and Russia respectively, was originally developed based on the Russian P-800 Oniks supersonic missile. 

It is a product of Indo-Russian cooperation, as it has been manufactured by the Russian NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the Indian Defence Research and Development Organization.

This missile can be launched from naval, air, submarine, and land platforms covering distances from 290 to 400 kilometers. The BrahMos PJ-10 is distinguished for its reported supersonic speed between 2.0-2.8 Mach, depending on the cruising altitude used. 

In addition to making it difficult to intercept, this speed also imparts greater strike power. In addition, BrahMos is equipped with stealth technology designed to make it less visible on radar and other detection methods.

It features an inertial navigation system (INS) for use against naval targets and an INS/Global Positioning System against land targets. Terminal guidance is achieved via active/passive radar by immersing and conducting sea-skimming over the sea surface (up to 5 meters), while it can receive assistance either from a satellite shipping system or operate exclusively through topographic Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) by comparing the data in its database.

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Technical characteristics of the BrahMos ground-launched version:

• Range: 300-500 km (depending on the variant and launch platform used)
• Propulsion: Solid propellant boost motor with a liquid-fueled ramjet sustainer motor 
• Length: 8.2 meters
• Payload: 300 kg 
• Launch weight: 3,000 kg
• Warhead: Either a 200 or 300 kg high-explosive semi-armor-piercing warhead or a 250 kg submunitions warhead

The Brahmos coastal system can consist of 2 to 4 self-propelled launchers and launch three supersonic cruise missiles; either Brahmos Block II or III. 

In addition to the supersonic version of the Brahmos, India, and Russia are also collaborating on a hypersonic version of the missile.

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