Synopsis
India has been trying to bolster its defence exports and become a major arms supplier. BrahMos missiles are the biggest showpiece of India's defence exports, but it exports a range of other weapons too. The govt is vigorously pursuing indigenous manufacturing of weapons and related equipment to become self-reliant, and this push has given a boost to defence exports too.
BrahMos supersonic cruise missile being test-fired from the Indian Navy's frontline guided missile destroyer INS Mormugao. (PTI)
India's aim to become a world power is not possible without acquiring hard power which, in its most literal manifestation, is the power of weapons, the capacity to make them and sell them to other countries too. The Russia-Ukraine war has proved how weapons dependency can turn fatal — India depends for half its weapons supplies on Russia which the war has jeopardised, while both Russia and Ukraine have learnt how critical is the need for self-reliance in military hardware.
For long, India has been the largest defence importer in the world, which means utter dependence on other countries. But things have changed dramatically in the past few years when India fast emerged as a defence exporter. Recent media reports of Vietnam looking to buy BrahMos missiles from India, in a deal which could be worth as much as $625 million, is a pointer towards India's future as a major arms supplier. The centrepiece of this ambitious enterprise is the BrahMos missile project, which has completed 25 years this year.
BrahMos Aerospace was established through an inter-governmental agreement in 1998 as a joint venture between India's state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation and NPO Mashinostroyenia of Russia. The first trial launch of BrahMos missile took place in 2001. Various versions of this missile have been commissioned to India's navy, air force and army.
Western-led sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine have not impacted BrahMos production or planning. Although BrahMos missiles still depend on Russian parts and raw material, the percentage of local input has gone up to over 70% from around 15% at the start of the venture. BrahMos Aerospace is now upgrading the missile, reducing its size, in terms of weight and dimensions so that it can be carried on a light-combat aircraft.
The strategic business of BrahMos
Sale of BrahMos to other countries not only push India's exports but also hold promise of strategic partnerships. Vietnam won't be the first country to buy BrahMos. Last year, India inked an export deal with the Philippines, signing a $375 million contract for the BrahMos shore-based anti-ship missile system. Now Indonesia is also interested in BrahMos.
In response to a growing Chinese maritime presence in the South China Sea and some surrounding areas, Indonesia and the Philippines have ramped up their spending on the procurement of weapons and other military equipment, according to data from defence intelligence company Janes, Reuters has reported. "Territorial disputes with China have been a major concern for most of the Southeast Asian countries which is driving their defence budget to meet their security requirements," Akash Pratim Debbarma, an aerospace and defence analyst at GlobalData, told Reuters. Much of Southeast Asia's new military purchases come from traditional suppliers, including the United States, France and Russia, but India - the world's largest defence importer - and BrahMos are trying to make inroads.
Sale of BrahMos to Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam will bolster India's Act East policy. More military capacity for these countries alters the balance of power in the South China Sea where China asserts its supremacy and is being challenged by the US and other allied powers. India is increasingly trying to expand its infleucne in the Indo-Pacific. Sale of weapons to countries in maritime dispute with China offers India the scope of critical strategic partnerships. Early this year, for the first time an Indian submarine docked in Indonesia. Arms sales can play an important role when India is looking for military footholds in the Indo-Pacific.
BrahMos Aerospace expects to close a deal to sell Indonesia missiles worth at least $200 million, Reuters has reported. The company has been in protracted negotiations with Indonesia and details about the size and timeline of a potential deal have not been previously reported. BrahMos Aerospace CEO Atul D. Rane told Reuters that the deal could be in place within the year.
BrahMos is also aiming to land a follow-on order of around $300 million with the Philippines, where its missiles are scheduled to be delivered to the Philippine Marine Corps starting at the end of 2023, Rane said. "The Philippines themselves have sort of indicated to us that this is just an ice breaker," Rane said, referring to the 2022 sale. "They are looking at more systems."
In fact, India is in talks with as many as eight countries for exporting the Brahmos missiles. These are friendly nations located in Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa.
India's soaring defence exports
The BrahMos missiles are the biggest showpiece of India's defence exports, but India has started exporting a range of other weapons too. A push for indigenous manufacturing of weapons and related equipment has given a boost to India's defence exports too.
India's defence exports reached an all-time high of Rs 15,920 crore in 2022-2023. The country's defence exports in 2021-22 were Rs 12,814 crore, Rs 8,434 crore in 2020-21, Rs 9,115 crore in 2019-20, Rs 10,745 crore in 2018-19, Rs 4,682 crore in 2017-18 and just Rs 1,521 crore in 2016-17, according to government data.
The spurt in defence exports is the result of the Narendra Modi govenrment's resolve to become 'Atmanirbhar' (self-reliant) in military supplies. The government has set the target of manufacturing defence hardware worth Rs 1,75,000 crore and take defence exports to Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25. In the last few years, the government has taken a series of measures to promote domestic defence production. Under its ambitious indigenisation project, the goverment has banned import of a large number of weapons and equipment in recent years.
Besides the big-ticket BrahMos, India exports Dornier-228 aircraft, artillery guns, radars, armoured vehicles, rockets and launchers, torpedo loading mechanism, alarm monitoring & control systems, night-vision monocular and binocular, lightweight torpedo and fire-control systems, weapons-locating radar, HF radio and coastal surveillance radar, among others.
India is pitching itself as a reliable supplier of arms and defence technology to African countries too. At present, India has a small presence in Africa when it comes to arms supplies. Industry insiders estimate that barely 10-15% of the annual defence exports go to Africa. Recently, army chiefs or their representatives from 31 African nations were showcased the capability of the Indian industry at the maiden India Africa Army Chiefs Conclave in Pune. The visiting delegations were given demonstrations of available systems such as artillery guns, armoured vehicles, radars, simulators and ammunition.
India currently exports weapons to over 80 countries, with the US being a prominent customer. Indian companies have got orders from US defence majors to supply parts of platforms like the F 16 fighter jets, Chinook and Apache helicopters among others .A slew of export orders signed with Armenia, including Pinaka Multi Barrel Rocket Launchers, artillery guns, a range of ammunition among other systems, has helped shore up export numbers this year.
The promise of LCA
India's other big-ticket defence export item could be the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, dveeloped by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It was developed from the LCA programme that began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters. Last year, Malaysia shortisted Tejas for purchase but it lost out to the other contender, South Korean supersonic fighter KAI FA-50 made it to the shortlist.
Still confident on Tejas’ export potential, HAL CMD CB Ananthakrishnan told TOI in February that HAL had some very good leads for the aircraft from many other countries. “Argentina and Egypt have definitely shown interest. Argentina also has seen two teams visit us and they are quite convinced about the product and quite happy about the product details. Their airforce team has come and flown the aircraft also. So, we are pursuing Argentina and want to start some sort of a relationship building. A contract is likely to get signed,” he said.
Ananthakrishnan said while Argentina was in discussion for around 15 LCAs, Egypt had been given a proposal for around 20 aircraft. “We are yet to hear from them, but further discussions will take place and we are also interested in setting up an ecosystem with them,” he said.
India's arms trade diplomacy
To sharpen its arms export strategy, India is carrying out reforms in military attaches deployment abroad. In line with PM Modi's directive to increase defence exports, the government is carrying out a major change in their deployments as they would be posted to countries where they can help in expanding domestic defence exports.
While positing these officers, the focus would be on countries in Africa and the Middle-East along with friendly nations in Southeast Asia which have shown interest in Indian equipment. The government is also going to allow the attaches to promote the sale of hardware manufactured by India's private companies.
