ASEAN Member States Seeking India’s Akash and BrahMos Missiles

ASEAN Nations are looking to purchase certain weapon systems from India, including India’s indigenously built Akash surface to air missile (SAM) and BrahMos cruise missile.

When the 10 Asean leaders meet for the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, sources told Financial Express: “Exports of Akash and BrahMos missiles will be topping the agenda.”

As part of India’s ‘Act East Policy’, India has increased its engagement with the Asean countries in the fields of maritime security, military exercises as well as trade and investments. 

Last year, the Indian government had said that it has set a target of exporting weapons and systems worth $2 billion by 2019, six times the size of India’s current exports. The government has allowed defence PSUs to earmark 10% of their production for exports to help India increase its defence exports. PSUs could earlier export only after meeting the demands of the Indian armed forces.

Various reports had suggested that India was considering supplying the missiles to the Southeast Asian nation. In 2016, various media reports suggested that 11 nations including Malaysia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Brazil has sought to purchase BrahMos missiles.

Akash, a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). The missile system can target aircrafts flying 30 kilometres away at altitudes of up to 18,000 metres.

The BrahMos is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile and is capable of being launched from submarines, ships, aircrafts and from land-based equipments.