BrahMos Aerospace inch towards $200 million supersonic missile deal with Indonesia

New Delhi, Mar 16: India-based defence company BrahMos Aerospace expects to close a deal this year to sell Indonesia supersonic cruise missiles worth at least $200 million, as it looks to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

 

It is pertinent to mention that BrahMos, a joint venture between India and Russia, had inked its first foreign deal last year with a $375 million sale of shore-based anti-ship missiles to the Philippines - part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious push in Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.

 

 

BrahMos Aerospace CEO Atul D. Rane said that it was in advanced discussions with Jakarta on a deal worth $200 million to $350 million under which it had offered to supply shore-based missiles and a version that can be mounted on warships. "I have a team right now in Jakarta," Rane was quoted as saying to Reuters in an interview, adding that a deal could be in place within the year. "The defence forces of Indonesia are extremely interested."

 

BrahMos is also aiming to land a follow-on order of around $300 million with the Philippines, where its missiles are scheduled to be delivered to the Philippine Marine Corps starting at the end of 2023, Rane said. "The Philippines themselves have sort of indicated to us that this is just an ice breaker," Rane said, referring to the 2022 sale. "They are looking at more systems."