This photo from the Philippine Marine Corps Facebook page shows personnel of the Marines’ Shore Based Anti-Ship Missile Battalion on June 22, 2022 as they prepare to leave for training in India.

MANILA — The Philippines’ acquisition of the BrahMos missile system — the fastest cruise missiles in the world — from India is a “significant game changer” for the Southeast Asian country, which has been modernizing its defense capabilities in the face of China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea, an official from the National Security Council (NSC) said on Saturday.

In a public speech earlier this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated his compatriots for the delivery of the supersonic missiles to the Philippines as part of a $375-million deal signed in 2022.

“BrahMos is a game changer for the Phililippines because it will strengthen our coastal defense,” NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya told reporters, without confirming if the technology has already reached Philippine soil.

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“It’s the fastest cruise missile in the world. It’s the joint Indian and Russian technology and its maximum extent in terms of range exceeds the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

With increased capability to monitor Philippine territory, Malaya said, the BrahMos missile could hit a target as soon as it enters the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The acquisition of the missiles — which happened a few months before former President Rodrigo Duterte ended his term — is part of the Philippines’ efforts to increase its maritime domain awareness capacity.

“We’re installing more coastal radars. We have deliveries from Japan for our coastal radars pero kung coastal radars lang, ano naman ang kuwenta nun (if we only have coastal radars, what good is that)? You know what’s happening but you cannot act on it,” Malaya said.

“Complementing this increased maritime domain awareness is the capacity to deter and defend, and one of these deterence capacities in addition to our FA-50 fighter jets and our offshore vessels is the BrahMos missile,” he said, referring to fighter trainers acquired from South Korea.

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While the inclusion of the BrahMos missiles in the Philippines’ defense system is “another significant game changer for our modernization,” Malaya underscored that Manila is “not preparing for war.”

“This is more of a deterrence para kung sakaling mag-iisip yung ibang bansa na pasukin ang ating waters, we now have several batteries of this BrahMos cruise missile which is going to be deployed to the Philippine Marines,” the NSC official said.

(This is more of a deterrence so that if other countries will try to enter our waters, we now have several batteries of this BrahMos cruise missile which is going to be deployed to the Philippine Marines.)

“There are two parts to it: The ground system and the cruise missiles themselves. The moment they both arrive, ready na tayong tanggapin dahil yung mga tropa natin (we are ready to receive it because our troops) have been trained in India,” he said.

Malaya declined to answer questions on the weapons system’s arrival and how soon the BrahMos can be used. He said he is not authorized to disclose deals done under the Department of National Defense.

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