India and Indonesia are likely to discuss sale of additional BrahMos supersonic missile systems during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day visit to Indonesia starting July 6.
Sources told the Tribune that Indonesia has expressed its keenness on going beyond the lone BrahMos missile battery it had sought under a preliminary procurement framework finalised in March this year.
A BrahMos battery includes launchers, radars and missiles.
India and Indonesia had first discussed the sale during the Defence Cooperation Dialogue in New Delhi in November last year, when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh hosted his Indonesian counterpart, Sjafrie Sjamsoedd.
In March, Indonesian Defence Ministry spokesperson Rico Ricardo Sirait had said the agreement with India on getting the missile system was a “part of the modernisation of military hardware and defence capabilities, especially in the maritime sector.”
Sources said the two sides are working on a phased procurement plan that would include the Brahmos missile that can fire at targets 290 km away. Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) restrictions on range, cap missile at 290 km.
New Delhi has also proposed setting up a Joint Defence Industry Cooperation Committee to collaborate in areas such as technology transfer, joint research and development. Indonesia is looking at one of its banks to finance the purchase.
India has already sold BrahMos missile systems to the Philippines and Vietnam, both are locked in a running maritime territorial dispute with China in the disputed and hydro-carbon rich South China Sea.
Indonesia also has small coast on the same sea, but is not part of the dispute in South China Sea.
The Philippines signed a $375-million contract for the missile system in 2022, and deliveries started in 2024. It has Coast-based batteries which can target ships at sea.
Vietnam is also looking at the missile systems and the contract is reportedly valued at approximately $620 million. It includes the supply of mobile coastal defence missile batteries, operator training and long-term logistics and maintenance support.
The export of lethal, supersonic “fire-and-forget” systems like the BrahMos to ASEAN nations—especially those with overlapping maritime claims in the South China Sea—highlights a major shift. New Delhi is actively sharing advanced technology with regional partners to secure maritime commons and build resilient, trusted supply chains outside of traditional blocs.
The BrahMos is the only supersonic cruise missile in the world that flies at three times the speed of sound. It is the product of a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya in 1998.
