BRICS Link Driving Rising Interest in Brahmos Missile: IAF Veteran
South Africa's Johannesburg is currently hosting the summit of the heads of BRICS member states with the expansion of the highly influential grouping on the agenda.
SputnikA prospective membership of BRICS is behind the rising interest of Latin American, Southeast Asian, and Gulf countries in acquiring the Brahmos missile from New Delhi, an Indian Air Force (IAF) veteran told Sputnik India on Wednesday.
"The interest of countries like Argentina and Indonesia in the Brahmos missile is an interesting development because of its context. It is not about the Brahmos alone, it is about BRICS as all these nations have applied for the membership of BRICS," Air Marshal (Retd) M. Matheswaran said.
He said in the light of a mounting interest from a large number of countries to join BRICS, the economic bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Countries Want to Get Rid of Western-Dominated Defense Systems
The former military officer added that it was an indication that these countries wanted to move away from the Western domination of their national security systems.
"Whether weapons or in other areas, Latin American, Southeast Asian, and other developing nations, including in the Gulf, want to diversify and build more strength to their sovereign status. Therefore, buying weapons systems, especially from India will make a big difference to their efforts in this direction," Matheswaran opined.
The comments come at a time when over 20 nations have reportedly evinced interest in becoming members of BRICS.
Among the countries that are willing to join the economic bloc are Argentina, Indonesia, Egypt, UAE, Cuba, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Algeria, Bolivia, and Kazakhstan.
Notably, Egypt, Argentina, and Indonesia are reportedly in discussions to purchase the Brahmos missile from India.
Matheswaran also spoke about the other reasons why so many nations were vying to procure the Brahmos missiles.
Why Is It Difficult to Intercept the Brahmos Missile?
He said the Brahmos is a supersonic missile, originally jointly developed by India and Russia with a 300 km range. But after India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) in 2016, the missile's operational range has been enhanced to 450-500 km.
Among the prime factors going in Brahmos' favor is that it is a supersonic missile that is difficult to intercept. Secondly, the Brahmos have demonstrated a remarkable level of accuracy, and reliability during field trials and war exercises.
"Therefore in terms of operational effectiveness and deterrence, the Brahmos is a potent weapon," Matheswaran, currently serving as the chairman and president of a think tank, the Peninsula Foundation, noted.
He explained that supersonic missiles are extremely destructive and the capability of such rockets has been well-demonstrated by Russia in the special operation in Ukraine. It is the other
trigger for the significant interest in the Brahmos by many countries.
The retired IAF officer expressed that the success of Russian Oniks missiles as well as other supersonic rockets in Ukraine has brought a paradigm change in understanding the capability of the missile force in a war.
Matheswaran observed that currently the air defense systems across the world are not fully equipped to deal with supersonic missiles, particularly the Brahmos. Since Brahmos' speed exceeds 3 Mach (over 3700 km/h), intercepting it becomes that much more difficult.
India's Marketing for Brahmos Showing Results
The geopolitics pundit pointed out that India has been promoting the Brahmos for quite some time, displaying the missile in various defense expos, including international military exhibitions.
He stated that there was little doubt that New Delhi has done significant marketing to build awareness about the Brahmos brand.
Furthermore, he emphasized, that in a joint venture, military equipment can only be exported if both the parties are in agreement, which in this case are India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia.
The fact that Brahmos, he said, has been marketed internationally indicates that both firms are in agreement and therefore the
confidence in the export potential of the projectile remains high.
""The other thing about marketing is that the trials that have been conducted and information on those trials have been marketed well... A significant number of trials have been done - the land variant, the naval version as well as the firing of the Brahmos from the Sukhoi-30MKIs warplanes, have built a high level of interest in the missile at the international level," Matheswaran underlined.
Brahmos to Lead India's Defense Exports
Matheswaran revealed that India hasn't exported a full-fledged weapons system so far. New Delhi has tried to export the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH- DHRUV) but has not been very successful.
On the other hand, LCA Tejas, he insisted, is a prospect that can be a very good candidate for breaking into the export market. But so far, neither the ALH nor the Tejas have captured that as yet.
"Brahmos, meanwhile, is showing significant success and that's why, it will certainly lead India's military equipment exports," Matheswaran affirmed.
Interestingly, India's maiden export deal for a
full-fledged defense product was for the Brahmos missile.
Last year, the Philippines signed a $375 million agreement with Brahmos Aerospace, the manufacturer of the widely acclaimed rocket, to supply three units of the Brahmos. The delivery of the missiles, however, will begin in December this year.
The defense specialist also shared his views on recent reports which claimed that India had offered the Brahmos missiles to long-time friend and partner Russia.
"I don't think Russia would be interested in acquiring the Brahmos missile from India. But things could change given Moscow's military conflict with Kiev. Although Russia has complete control over technology and can produce missiles as lethal as the Brahmos, they need more of such missiles for their operations in Ukraine," Matheswaran remarked.