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| Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (from PNA) and photo of BrahMos missile (Shutterstock) |
There is no stopping the Philippines in acquiring the supersonic
BrahMos cruise missile from India as the deal is expected to be signed early
next year, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana last Monday.
Lorenzana made the announcement after the possibility of The Philippines having the missile on its inventory was brought up.
"Signing of the contract will be in 2020. Possibly on
the first or second quarter," Lorenzana said in Filipino.
The DND chief said that the country will be acquiring "two
batteries”. Meanwhile, a missile battery is equivalent to three mobile
autonomous launchers with two or three missile tubes each.
The BrahMos Aerospace website said “The missile has a flight range of up to
290 km with
supersonic speed all through the flight, leading to shorter flight
time, consequently ensuring lower dispersion of targets, quicker engagement
time and non-interception by any known weapon system in the world.”
“Its cruising altitude could be up to 15 km and terminal
altitude is as low as 10 meters. It carries a conventional warhead weighing 200
to 300 kgs,” it added.
Further, the BrahMos is said to have “3 times more velocity,
2.5 to 3 times more flight range, 3 to 4 times more seeker range, and 9 times
more kinetic energy.”
Lorenzana added that the weapons can also be maximized by the
Philippine Air Force (PAF) aside from the army.
Earlier, when asked if the country can support its
modernization program, the DND chief said: "There is money for it as per
our modernization program,"
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