By: Rupakjyoti Borah
India’s export of US$375 million of BrahMos missile batteries jointly produced by Russia and India to the Philippines marks a major step forward for India from one of the world’s biggest military hardware importers to a nascent exporter, and for Russia in the field of joint production. It is also a manifestation of New Delhi’s emphasis on the “Make-in-India” initiative. India and the Philippines concluded the purchase in January 2022 for three batteries of the shore-based, anti-ship variant of the BrahMos missile. BrahMos Aerospace is a joint venture between India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Russian Joint Stock Company, NPO Mashinostroyenia.
Despite the export to the Philippines, India continues to hold the title of the world’s largest arms importer, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Between 2019 and 2023, the country accounted for a significant 9.8 percent of global arms imports, reflecting a strategic vulnerability in its defense procurement as it seeks to shore up its arm inventory in competition with China, which is also seeking to bolster its arms in its own arms race with the United States.
The Philippines is engaged in its own arms buildup as well as tensions increase over China’s claims of ownership of the entire South China Sea through its so-called nine-dash line, which seeks to extend Beijing’s hegemony almost to the doorstep of the littoral nations. The BrahMos missile batteries will go to the Philippine Marine Corps’ Coastal Defense Regiment, a newly formed unit founded in 2020 to counter China’s growing aggressiveness. A single battery will have three transporter erector launch vehicles, each with three launch tubes. The coastal defense version of the BrahMos missiles is designed to augment the Philippines’ anti-ship capacity as China continues to assert its maritime claims. The BrahMos has a 180-mile range that would allow it to reach targets around the Spratly at a cruising speed of well over Mach 2, much faster than Raytheon’s Tomahawk, which is subsonic.
Background
Russia-India defense cooperation goes back to well before the 1971 India-Pakistan war, when New Delhi signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the then Soviet Union. Russia has always been a trusted partner for India in the field of defense technology transfer. One of the major deals signed between India and Russia is the US$5.43 billion S-400 ‘Triumf’ missile system purchase, which went ahead even in the face of threats from the United States. India is awaiting the delivery of three of five Almaz-Antey S-400 Triumf self-propelled surface-to-air (SAM) missile systems, four Admiral Grigorovich Project 1135.6M frigates—two of which are to be built in India under a technology transfer agreement – and the possible leasing of one more Project 971 ‘Akula’ (Schuka-B)-class nuclear powered submarines (SSN) that was to be delivered by 2025.
There is an institutionalized mechanism to oversee the complete range of issues between India and Russia on the military-technical front. The first India-Russia 2+2 Dialogue was held in Delhi on December 6, 2021 on the sidelines of the Annual Summit meeting chaired by the Defense and Foreign Ministers of both sides. The defense ministers meet annually, alternately in Russia and India, to discuss and review the status of ongoing projects and other issues of military and military technical cooperation.
Apart from the BrahMos project, a host of bilateral projects are going on, including licensed production of T-90 tanks and Su-30-MKI aircraft, supply of MiG-29-K aircraft and Kamov-31 helicopters, upgrade of MiG-29 aircraft, etc. In addition, a joint venture, Indo-Russia Rifles Pte Ltd (IRRPL) has been established and begun production of AK-203 rifles in India under the “Make in India” initiative. One of India’s aircraft carriers, the INS Vikramaditya is the refurbished Russian Admiral Gorshkov. India has also leased submarines from Russia for the training of Indian (defense) personnel. In the past, the two countries have also held joint exercises. In addition, the India sent a contingent to the Vostok Exercises held in September 2022 in Russia.
Challenges
However, there are challenges. One is that slowly but surely India is reducing its defense imports from Russia and moving towards countries like the US, France, and Israel. As mentioned in a recent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report, while India is still the world’s largest importer of military hardware, the share of Russian arms in its total import basket is being reduced. For instance, the serviceability of Russian weapons platforms is a concern especially in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war which found Russian weaponry to be seriously vulnerable to NATO weaponry, which the Ukrainians have used to destroy vast numbers of them or render them inoperable. Russian weapons platforms are also duplicated in China, representing a major security concern for India, especially in the wake of warplanes like the Sukhois.
There are also issues over the payments mechanism, as the Indian rupee is not a globally traded currency, and India would not like to make payments in Chinese yuan for arms purchased from Russia. Sooner or later, these problems need to be addressed.
Nonetheless, defense cooperation between India and Russia is set to increase especially as Russia is under sanctions from the Western bloc countries in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine and cannot sell weapons to many countries. Even in the midst of threats from the US and other countries, India has not given up on the import of Russian oil, which is being refined in India and sold to third countries. All said and done, the BrahMos deal opens up new possibilities. For example, they could also collaborate in sales to third countries like Vietnam which use Russian military hardware. The delivery of the BrahMos missiles to the Philippines is an example of this approach.
Dr. Rupakjyoti Borah is a Senior Research Fellow with the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, Tokyo. The views expressed here are personal.
source : asiasentinel