Indonesia has finalized an agreement with India to procure BrahMos cruise missiles, confirming earlier reports that it was exploring the acquisition of the potent weapons system.
Defense Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait yesterday told numerous media outlets that Jakarta had finalized the purchase, although he did not confirm the total value of the agreement.
“Indonesia has partnered with India in the procurement of the BrahMos missile system. This is part of our efforts to modernize our weaponry, especially in beefing up our coastal defense,” Rico told the Jakarta Globe. He said that the weapons system would help “boost deterrence capabilities in safeguarding national sovereignty.”
BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India and Russia, which was set up in India in 1998, has been negotiating with Indonesia for a possible purchase for several years. Indonesia first expressed an interest in purchasing Brahmos missiles since at least 2018, and in 2022, Indian media outlets reported that talks with Jakarta were at an “advanced stage.”
India’s The Tribune newspaper reported yesterday that the two nations had discussed the BrahMos during the Defense Cooperation Dialogue hosted by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh for his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in New Delhi in November.
The BrahMos deal is expected to include “the sale of one battery comprising launchers, radars, and missiles,” the paper reported. It also cited sources who said that the contract could be signed within “two to three months,” once Indonesia finalizes its financing.
The world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile, the BrahMos, can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or from land platforms, and flies at nearly three times the speed of sound, making it nearly impossible for targets to evade. This has unsurprisingly made it attractive to a number of Southeast Asian states that are in need of a potent deterrent against Chinese incursions into disputed waters that these nations claim in the South China Sea.
Indonesia is the second Southeast Asian nation to acquire the powerful weapons system, after the Philippines, which in early 2022 closed a $374 million deal to acquire three BrahMos missile batteries, with the aim of strengthening the ability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to safeguard its sovereign claims in the South China Sea. The first of these was delivered in April 2024. Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam have also all shown an interest in acquiring BrahMos missiles.
While the Philippines has opted for the shore-based anti-ship variant, earlier Indian media reports suggested that Indonesia was hoping to fit the missile on board its warships. According to one report from July 2022, a team from BrahMos visited an Indonesian shipyard to study the possibility of installing the missile.
If confirmed, the BrahMos purchase would mark a significant upgrade on the ship-based Russian-origin Yakhont supersonic anti-ship cruise missile that the Indonesian Navy has operated since 2011. As Rico told Reuters, it also represents an important step forward for Indonesia’s long-running program of military modernization that will enhance the country’s defense capabilities, “especially in the maritime sector.” This program has involved a broad pivot away from land capabilities, the historical focus of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), toward the sorts of air and naval power necessary to protect Indonesia’s sprawling archipelagic geography.
In recent years, Jakarta has made major acquisitions of advanced aircraft and submarines to enhance the air force and navy, as well as a reorganization of regional commands that one analyst has described as “the most extensive since the days of President Suharto, who left office in 1998.”
Source:
thediplomat.com
