Indonesia eyes coastal, sea-launched BrahMos

INdonesia’s armed forces feature uttered stake in both coastal batteries and sea-launched versions of bharat’s BrahMos ultrasonic cruise missile as part of the Southeast Asian nation’s comprehensive military restructuring programme, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.The procurement of BrahMos missiles, jointly developed by India and Russia, figured in Indonesian defence minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin’s discussions with Indian interlocutors during his visit to New Delhi last month. Besides co-chairing the bilateral defence ministers’ dialogue with his counterpart Rajnath Singh, Sjafrie visited BrahMos Aerospace for a briefing on the missile, the people said.The Indian side also conveyed its support for the Indonesian military’s plans to manufacture pharmaceutical products for public distribution, the people said on condition of anonymity. In July, Sjafrie signed an agreement with Indonesia’s food and drug supervisory agency for laboratories operated by the military to begin making drugs and medical supplies for civilians.“The Indonesian military is interested in coastal batteries of BrahMos, or the surface-to-surface version of the missile, and the sea-launched version. Negotiations are currently more advanced for the coastal batteries,” one of the people cited above said.There is also strong interest in the sea-launched version of BrahMos, the people said, noting that Indonesian Navy chief Admiral Muhammad Ali had visited BrahMos Aerospace, the manufacturer of the missile, during a visit to India in January.If the deal goes ahead, Indonesia will become the second foreign customer for the BrahMos, named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, after the Philippines, which has concluded a $375-million deal to acquire three batteries of the cruise missiles. The proposed deal with Indonesia is expected to be worth at least $450 million, the people said.While there have been no discussions on providing a credit line to Indonesia for the procurement of the BrahMos, the people said the Indian side will be open to considering this if there is a request.The discussions on the BrahMos missile dovetails with growing maritime security cooperation between India and Indonesia in recent years, with the focus on a secure and peaceful maritime environment, the people said. The two countries are also engaged in joint initiatives such as Exercise Samudra Shakti and are strengthening operational collaboration to tackle shared maritime challenges such as piracy and illegal activities at sea, they said.“The Indian side can also support the Indonesian defence ministry’s plans to begin manufacturing pharmaceutical products, given India’s extensive expertise in this field,” the person cited above said.Laboratories run by Indonesia’s military supply medicines for troops, and Sjafrie has said the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals for civilians is aimed at cutting prices by 50% and making drugs available through village cooperatives launched by President Prabowo Subianto, who was chief guest at this year’s Republic Day celebrations.Indonesia has been engaged in discussions with India on the BrahMos missile, the export version of which has a range of 290km, for more than seven years. Indian experts have also visited Indonesia to assess the fitting of the missile on Indonesian warships. Vietnam too has expressed interest in acquiring the BrahMos missile.