According to a press release published by Philippine News Agency(PNA), the medium-range ramjet supersonic BrahMos cruise missile system is the ideal weapon for the planned shore-based anti-ship missile project of the Philippine Navy (PN). The project is being pursued as part of the Navy’s requirements for a credible defense posture as envisioned in its ongoing modernization program. The acquisition of a land-based missile system is under Horizon Two of the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, which is slated for 2018 to 2022 and geared for the acquisition of equipment for external defense and has a budget of PHP300 billion.
“The BrahMos Missile and Launching System is the most promising alternative for the Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System as assessed by the PN Technical Working Group,” Vice Adm. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said in a text message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) when asked whether the PN intends to acquire the Mach 3-capable BrahMos missile for its inventory. The project proposal was already presented to the Senior Leaders, however (it is) still for further approval by the Commander-in-Chief and subsequent funding.”
Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said,”The acquisition program for the BrahMos would push through after his department and India’s Defense Ministry signed on March 2 the implementing agreement concerning the procurement of defense material and equipment. As of now, it is a go. The implementing agreement recently signed will facilitate the G2G (government-to-government) mode of procurement,” Lorenzana said. When asked how many BrahMos batteries the country would procure, he answered only one would be acquired. “One battery only. Three systems na yan (it will consist of three systems),” Lorenzana said.
The BrahMos (designated PJ-10) is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft, or land. It is the fastest supersonic cruise missile in the world.[16] It is a joint venture between the Russian Federation’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace. It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
It is the world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service. An air-launched variant of BrahMos appeared in 2012 and entered service in 2019. A hypersonic version of the missile, BrahMos-II, is also presently under development with a speed of Mach 7–8 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It was expected to be ready for testing by 2020.In 2016, as India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India and Russia are now planning to jointly develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 800 km-plus range and an ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy.
BrahMos was first test-fired on 12 June 2001 from the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur in a vertical launch configuration. On 14 June 2004, another test was conducted at ITR and BrahMos was fired from a mobile launcher. On 5 March 2008, the land attack version of the missile was fired from the destroyer INS Rajput and the missile hit and destroyed the right target among a group of targets. The 5 September 2010 test of BrahMos created a world record for being the first cruise missile to be tested at supersonic speeds in a steep-dive mode. BrahMos became the only supersonic cruise missile possessing advanced capability of selection of a particular land target amongst a group of targets.