New Delhi- This gives a big fillip to defense exports and India has sent the fourth battery of land version of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines recently in growing tensions due to Chinese assertions in the South China Sea.
It is quite clear that three batteries of BrahMos missiles have already been handed over recently with the fourth reaching Manila as part of the USD 375 million deal signed by the two allies in 2022. Each battery comprises four launchers with three 290 km range missiles with each launcher on a mobile platform for survivability of the conventional deterrent. Given the supersonic speed of the weapon, the missile is very hard to intercept by land or ship-based Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) systems.
The BrahMos Philippines deal has confirmed that in 2023-2024 India’s defense exports have already touched ₹21083 crores with an increase of 32.5 percent year-on-year growth as compared to the past fiscal. Since BrahMos has a confirmed track record, India is supposed to carry more orders soon for the supersonic missiles.
While India has crossed the Rubicon in missile exports, the Narendra Modi government also wants to set up a joint venture between Mazagon Dockyards Limited and French Naval Group to produce Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarines in Mumbai and supply to third countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Presently, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan is on a visit to France to interact with the Emmanuel Macron government and the Naval Group to recognize how French and Indian supply chains can join together to manufacture high-tech conventional and non-conventional sub-surface platforms in India under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat rubric. The Indian CDS will visit the French submarine base at Brest and possibly Toulouse in a bid to develop the bilateral Defence cooperation. The French Naval Group is already in discussions with MDL for the construction of three additional Kalveri (modified Scorpene) class submarines for India.
While P-5 powers use nuclear-powered conventionally armed attack submarines (SSN) for deterrence and access denial, India is still evaluating its opportunities. The opportunities include manufacturing SSNs for long-term maritime security or watching towards lithium batteries, air-independent propulsion, or conventional diesel-electric submarines other than underwater armed drones. These proposals are expected to be solidified during Modi 3.0.
