[dragracer567]

The Philippines has accepted the proposal to purchase the Brahmos missile from India for $374.9 million. I believe this will make the Philippines the first foreign customer of the Brahmos missile apart from India.

I believe Vietnam is likely to be the next customer to whom a line of credit worth $500 million is being proposed. This is further to the $100 million line of credit already offered to Vietnam to purchase patrol boats for their coast guard, made by L & T.

I'm really glad that we are able to finally make some headway in our military relations with our South East Asian partners. Vietnam and the Philippines are some of our closest and most loyal allies, more than our own neighbors infact. Moreover, based on what I've heard from friends in these countries, the public support towards India during the 2020 skirmishes with China was very high, so much so that Whatsapp forwards in these circulated making some outstanding claims about Chinese losses which is most likely not true but goes to show how the public in these countries viewed the India-China conflict.

Link

[V.Narayan]

Philippines inks deal worth $375 million for BrahMos missiles

https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le38338340.ece

Philippines on Friday signed a $375 million deal with BrahMos Aerospace for the supply of shore-based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This is the first export order for the missile, a joint product of India and Russia.

The BrahMos supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles will be deployed by the Philippines Coastal Defence Regiment and significantly bolster the sea defence capabilities within Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The contract includes the delivery of three missile batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package.

Tensions have high between Philippines and China over the disputed islands in the South China Sea, and last November Manila had accused Chinese Coast Guard of “intimidation and harassment” of its Navy personnel.

This is a signal moment in the history of Indian defence exports which hitherto have not been much to write home about. This also represents a message to a belligerent China that has been violating international sea laws and right of free and safe navigation with impudence and bullying smaller littoral nations such as Philippines, Vietnam & Taiwan. Indonesia, Vietnam & Thailand are said to be in discussions too for acquiring the Brahmos.


BrahMos anti-ship coastal defence variant.

[lancia_fanboy]

The first-ever use of S400 in combat role has been reported by some sources, primarily by a very famous Twitter handle(asbmil),

The SAM hit a Su-27 near Kiev, while the SAM was supposedly in Belarus. The distance was 150kms and that in itself has set a world record.
The downed pilot was Colonel Oleksandr Oksanchenko, a famous Airshow pilot in Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/ASBMilitary/stat...16085351063552

[ads11]

Originally Posted by lancia_fanboy

The first-ever use of S400 in combat role has been reported by some sources, primarily by a very famous Twitter handle(asbmil),

The SAM hit a Su-27 near Kiev, while the SAM was supposedly in Belarus. The distance was 150kms and that in itself has set a world record.
The downed pilot was Colonel Oleksandr Oksanchenko, a famous Airshow pilot in Ukraine.

https://twitter.com/ASBMilitary/stat...16085351063552

Interesting, this is the first I'm hearing of the S400 downing Col Oksanchenko. I seem to remember though that I saw tweets confirming he was KIA in the first week of the war though. The mil-air twittersphere was mourning him given his sterling reputation at air shows. Eg:
https://twitter.com/IAPonomarenko/st...B_hVJ7Ms2f4W5g
Dated March 1st.

At the time all I'd seen was that it was an air to air kill but now it's looking like it was indeed the first confirmed kill through the S-400. It comes at an interesting time because the Ukrainians have had success using their own S-300 systems against the Russians. Now with the S-400, it's become this hyper polarising system where you see some real maximalist positions taken on its capability, but I think the pragmatists will only reinforce their take on the credible threat posed by these systems (provided they're used correctly).

Make no mistake the proponents of the S-400 will be touting this long range strike for months and years to come now.

[vik99]

Pakistan Thursday claimed an unarmed Indian supersonic missile took off from Sirsa and landed at a place 124 km within Pakistani territory on Wednesday evening. The missile, it said, was cruising at an altitude of 40,000 feet and endangered passenger flights in both Indian and Pakistani airspace, and also civilians and property on the ground.

There was no response from either the Indian Air Force or the Ministry of Defence on the Pakistan claim.

At a press conference Thursday evening, Major General Babar Iftikhar, Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistani Armed Forces said at 1843 hours on March 9, “a high-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian flying territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistani Air Force. From its initial course the object suddenly maneuvered towards Pakistani territory and violated Pakistan’s airspace ultimately falling near Mia Channu.”

Source

[skanchan95]

Was it truly an accident or a subtle message to our western neighbour?

[ads11]

Strange incident. I really hope it is indeed just an unfortunate accident because this isn't the sort of thing you want to be playing games with from a messaging standpoint given how historically volatile the region is. Last thing anyone wants or needs is a conflagration in our neighbourhood. Only takes the slightest misunderstanding for something to blow up into something bigger and thoroughly unwanted.

[Anwesh]

It was a BraMhos.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theprin.../869387/%3famp
The Chinese must have got there hands on it by now. With fuel exhausted and being unarmed, most of the systems would be intact. This incident has probably compromised the whole BraMhos project.

Regards,

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by Anwesh

It was a BraMhos.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theprin.../869387/%3famp
The Chinese must have got there hands on it by now. With fuel exhausted and being unarmed, most of the systems would be intact. This incident has probably compromised the whole BraMhos project.

Regards,

Politely disagree, If it was that easy why not simply buy sophisticated missiles 'intact' from a myriad of global arms suppliers, and then recreate it in-house?!

Albeit by design or sheer luck the event happened when our neighbour was busy in internal turmoil, so much so that even an enemy missile hasn't really garnered public attention. An Indian missile is least of their 'establishment's' worries currently!

[FiatDiesel]

Originally Posted by Anwesh

It was a BraMhos.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theprin.../869387/%3famp
The Chinese must have got there hands on it by now. With fuel exhausted and being unarmed, most of the systems would be intact. This incident has probably compromised the whole BraMhos project.

Regards,

I agree, it’s far more damaging for India as this missile is one of key weapons within all forms of combat. Pakistan and China will not leave any stone unturned to get into the details of technology.

It also surprises me that how such malfunction can happen with such key missile platforms.

[AltoLXI]

124 kms inside the Pakistan territory and didn't anti missile systems kick into action on their side?

[sierrabravo98]

For members worrying about BrahMos falling into Chinese hands, I propose some reasons as to why you shouldn't worry:

1.) Not a lot survives a direct impact with ground at Mach 3. In this case, ashes and some metal debris were the only thing left

2.) The BrahMos is based on the P-800 Oniks (or Yakhont as some people call it) which is a 1990s Soviet era missile. There are a lot of derivatives of this missile family and a myriad operators have access to this missile. Checkout the Chinese CX-1 Anti-Ship missile. It looks like a repainted BrahMos.

Moving on, despite what the government claims, I don't believe that this was an "accident" for 2 reasons:

1.) Missiles cannot be fired/launched accidentally. Unlike what some movies would have us believe, it is not as simple as pressing a button. There are validation codes, guidance parameters and what not before a missile can actually leave it's canister.

2.) According to the ISPR, the missile underwent a sharp (90°) course correction about a 100km into its flight and then flew arrow straight 140kms into Pakistan. How does that happen without pre-programmed instructions? Also witnesses on the ground claim to have seen a "huge explosion" at the impact site. Seen in conjunction with the impact crater, that indicates a vertical dive down (which the Block-3 Brahmos is famous for IIRC) and not a fuel-running out/gliding into terrain scenario which the Pakistanis would have us believe.

As to what exactly the GoI intended, that's anyone's guess.

P.S: The total time of flight of the missile is said to be about 6 minutes with roughly half of the time spent within India. That's ample time to stop a stray missile well within Indian territory.

[Shome]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

That's ample time to stop a stray missile well within Indian territory.

How to we stop a stray missile? Unless this was a test, in which case a NOTAM would/should have been issued; and as far as I know, operational missiles don't have a "kill switch"

Agree with the rest of your points, it's impossible to launch a missile without target and waypoint coordinates. I think it was more like a precision strike to take someone out which our friendly neighbor will not accept considering the internal turmoil their govt is going through.

Also, how did they track the lo-lo flight path right from inside India? They ideally will not be able to detect by radar till the missile is virtually on top of them. Seems strange indeed...

[sierrabravo98]

Originally Posted by Shome

How to we stop a stray missile? Unless this was a test, in which case a NOTAM would/should have been issued; and as far as I know, operational missiles don't have a "kill switch"

Agree with the rest of your points, it's impossible to launch a missile without target and waypoint coordinates. I think it was more like a precision strike to take someone out which our friendly neighbor will not accept considering the internal turmoil their govt is going through.

Also, how did they track the lo-lo flight path right from inside India? They ideally will not be able to detect by radar till the missile is virtually on top of them. Seems strange indeed...

Oh, I was not referring to any kill switch of any sort. IIRC, I read somewhere long back that the BrahMos has mid-course guidance capabilities. If a stray missile was seen to be heading into Pakistani airspace, the guidance parameters could have been updated to make the missile fall within India territory itself.

Also the Pakistanis have been claiming that the Missile was above 40000ft. If true, that would indicate it was not a lo-lo mission. In fact, when I was listening to the ISPR press-conference on 10th March, the first thing which came to mind upon hearing 40000ft and supersonic was an air-launched Brahmos . Moreover, the Brahmos, with those large ram-air intakes upfront is not a particularly stealthy missile and hence should not be too difficult to track at 40000+ft cruising altitude. Only when it is being operated at sea-skimming altitudes (10-15ft) would it be difficult to track.

P.S: Some defense enthusiasts have been speculating that this was the result of a Chinese attack on the AfNet system (but then are BrahMos batteries integrated with AfNet?). Really wild and improbable theories floating around.

[Shome]

Originally Posted by sierrabravo98

Oh, I was not referring to any kill switch of any sort. IIRC, I read somewhere long back that the BrahMos has mid-course guidance capabilities. If a stray missile was seen to be heading into Pakistani airspace, the guidance parameters could have been updated to make the missile fall within India territory itself.

Also the Pakistanis have been claiming that the Missile was above 40000ft. If true, that would indicate it was not a lo-lo mission. In fact, when I was listening to the ISPR press-conference on 10th March, the first thing which came to mind upon hearing 40000ft and supersonic was an air-launched Brahmos . Moreover, the Brahmos, with those large ram-air intakes upfront is not a particularly stealthy missile and hence should not be too difficult to track at 40000+ft cruising altitude. Only when it is being operated at sea-skimming altitudes (10-15ft) would it be difficult to track.

P.S: Some defense enthusiasts have been speculating that this was the result of a Chinese attack on the AfNet system (but then are BrahMos batteries integrated with AfNet?). Really wild and improbable theories floating around.

Mid - course guidance makes sense, air launched Brahmos gives credibility to tracking the 40k ft altitude, a brahmos without a warhead would definitely have enough energy for a kinetic kill, as for hacking the AfNet system - I have zero knowledge on this subject.

The whole timeline of the reactions from both countries further adds to the mystery and add to that the lukewarm reaction from Pakistan.

All in all it's a very fishy situation which the general public will probably never get closure on.