Malaysia Eyes Air and Sea-Launched BrahMos Missiles for Defence Upgrade

At the Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security Asia (NATSEC Asia) 2024 exhibition, Malaysia expressed keen interest in acquiring the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system from India for both its air force and navy.

The BrahMos-A, designed for integration with the Royal Malaysian Air Force's Su-30MKM fighter jets, and the ship-launched variant were showcased at the BrahMos Aerospace pavilion, inaugurated by India's High Commissioner to Malaysia.


The BrahMos missile system, renowned for its speed, precision, and versatility, presents a compelling proposition for Malaysia's defence modernization efforts. Its potential acquisition could significantly enhance the country's deterrence capabilities and address evolving security challenges in the region.

This interest from Malaysia aligns with the growing trend among Southeast Asian nations to bolster their defence capabilities amidst rising geopolitical tensions. The BrahMos system, with its proven track record, offers a robust and reliable solution for air and sea-based defence needs.

The DSA & NATSEC Asia 2024 exhibition, serving as a platform for showcasing cutting-edge defence technologies, has facilitated this crucial interaction between India and Malaysia.

While official negotiations are yet to commence, Malaysia's interest in the BrahMos system marks a significant development in the region's defence landscape. If successful, this acquisition could set a precedent for future collaborations and arms deals between India and Southeast Asian nations.

 

[Anant]

Malaysia can't afford something like the BrahMos. They have a defence budget of 4 billion USD, which is fairly low for the region, and is even 15% lower than the Philippines' defence budget.

Malaysia can't afford a system like the BrahMos, considering the ongoing modernisation of their Army and Air Force.

 

[abhinav srivastava]

We should not sell Bramhos to jihadis, tech may be passed on to our enemy states.

 

[Neal.B]

We should not sell Bramhos to jihadis, tech may be passed on to our enemy states.

True. I think Brahmos Aerospace should approach to Vietnam and Thailand.

 

[NSR]

Malaysia harbors and shelters an Islamist Jehadi preacher and refuses to extradite him to India -

FP - " Malaysia Can’t Decide if Zakir Naik Is a Preacher or a Terrorist
The fiery Muslim teacher is wanted back home in India, but Malaysia won’t give him up."

Sheesh. What kind of arms sales policy is this ???

 

[Bhishma]

True. I think Brahmos Aerospace should approach to Vietnam and Thailand.

Just freeze all Brahmos sale. As much as I like to see Chinese terrified, its not something we should proliferate. China has deep pockets. They can buy people. In Philippines case, we have clearly divided lines. Its not the same with other countries. Perhaps Taiwan we can sell, but Russia would probably not agree.

 

[Bhishma]

Dont do it. Bad idea. Probably sell to Taiwan and freeze all sales. Japan, SoKo are also ok.

 

[Anant]

True. I think Brahmos Aerospace should approach to Vietnam and Thailand.

Again, Thailand can't afford it. Their defence budget isn't large enough for their Navy to get a new frigate, let alone have the money to buy BrahMos missiles.

Moreover, Thailand has a mostly-amicable relationship with China.

 

[Anant]

Dont do it. Bad idea. Probably sell to Taiwan and freeze all sales. Japan, SoKo are also ok.

While all three of nations would be good candidates, they are all out for the simple reason that Russia would red-flag them all. Moreover, Japan and South Korea have their own missile programs, and would focus on that and their Western-origin equipment rather than get a one-off system.

 

[beencensured]

We should not sell Bramhos to jihadis, tech may be passed on to our enemy states.

Malaysia is close to Pakistan and turkey.

 

[Bhishma]

While all three of nations would be good candidates, they are all out for the simple reason that Russia would red-flag them all. Moreover, Japan and South Korea have their own missile programs, and would focus on that and their Western-origin equipment rather than get a one-off system.

Japan's ASM3 is a light weight 900kg missile compared to Brahmos' 2.5-3T.
SoKo's Hyunmoo-3 is mach1.2, not mach3 like Brahmos. Its more like tomahawk.
Russia's hiding their teeth and biding their time with China. Dont you think they know the implications of selling Brahmos to Philippines. They very well know. China created chaos in Vladivostok region. They have a temporary marriage. When they are in a better position, their dealings with China will be as similar to India's.
We do have a market. We need to start pitching.

 

[Bhishma]

It looks like India has already mastered Brahmos hypersonic version. Thats probably why we are going around pitching to sell old tech.

 

[Sandeep]

While we should advertise our weapons and look for buyers we need to make sure that we put in place a number of safeguards so that they can't copy the crucial technology, parts, components and engine that powers the missile. We can make sure by only selling a inferior version of the Brahmos and not allow them to make the missile themselves. Otherwise if we offer the exact same missile as the one we use then we would have no military advantage and a current friend might turn into a enemy tomorrow.

Malaysia won't buy the Brahmos missile for their Sukhoi jets because it involves having to modify the jet and strengthen the undercarriage and air frame and they wont be able to afford the missile either so they will be happy to continue using the existing and cheaper Russian weapons. As for their naval ships they mostly use small to medium size naval ships which again will require modifications if they wanted to install the Brahmos missile.

 

[Anant]

Japan's ASM3 is a light weight 900kg missile compared to Brahmos' 2.5-3T.
SoKo's Hyunmoo-3 is mach1.2, not mach3 like Brahmos. Its more like tomahawk.
Russia's hiding their teeth and biding their time with China. Dont you think they know the implications of selling Brahmos to Philippines. They very well know. China created chaos in Vladivostok region. They have a temporary marriage. When they are in a better position, their dealings with China will be as similar to India's.
We do have a market. We need to start pitching.

See, I am not saying Russia is going to remain friends with China for too long. However, as things stand today, Russia needs China more than it needs India.

Secondly, the green-lighting of BrahMos sales to the Philippines was intended, partly, as a poke at China. No two ways about it. However, the Philippines is a nascent market as compared to Japan or South Korea.

Both Japan and South Korea have their own (admittedly different in capability) anti-ship missile systems. More importantly, they have a proper operational doctrine around them. They simply would never get the BrahMos for the reason that it would represent an entirely new logistics chain and would require sizeable changes to their doctrine.

Oh, and while Russia dis not object to sales to the Philippines, they would very quickly veto sales to Japan or South Korea. Simply put, a BrahMos sold to those nations would end up in the US before long, and as far as Russia is concerned, they don't want that

 

[Anant]

It looks like India has already mastered Brahmos hypersonic version. Thats probably why we are going around pitching to sell old tech.

Considering that even the funding for that is yet to be sanctioned, I fail to see how exactly the BrahMos II is a reality. What might be happening, however, is that we probably have the 450 km version, the 600 km version, and the 900 km version BrahMos missiles ready.

 

[Bhishma]

See, I am not saying Russia is going to remain friends with China for too long. However, as things stand today, Russia needs China more than it needs India.

Secondly, the green-lighting of BrahMos sales to the Philippines was intended, partly, as a poke at China. No two ways about it. However, the Philippines is a nascent market as compared to Japan or South Korea.

Both Japan and South Korea have their own (admittedly different in capability) anti-ship missile systems. More importantly, they have a proper operational doctrine around them. They simply would never get the BrahMos for the reason that it would represent an entirely new logistics chain and would require sizeable changes to their doctrine.

Oh, and while Russia dis not object to sales to the Philippines, they would very quickly veto sales to Japan or South Korea. Simply put, a BrahMos sold to those nations would end up in the US before long, and as far as Russia is concerned, they don't want that

No, Russia is being smart here. They know the dangers of dealing with China. Its only a matter of time. When the Ukraine war ends, which is pretty soon, they wont need China. China is a far bigger threat than NATO to Russia. They risk losing territory, China being China has already made their moves. The battle lines are clear. Just because Putin visited dont mean $hit - Xi visited India and then launched attacks in Galwan - within like 8 mo, not even a year. He very well knows the situation. Russia doesnt need China, its a temporary stop gap arrangement. Putin is a brilliant statesman coming from intelligence, he is no idiot. He is well aware of Chinese designs to take over Russia. Just wait and see - when the war is over, he is going to do a complete reversal of policy. Remember, NATO only had containment strategy towards Russia ie placing missile batteries at their door steps. China has engineered chaos & planning to cut them into two. Who is the far greater threat to Russia ? Every "friend" of China is terrified of them. I dont buy this argument that "Russia needs China".

I've already pointed why Brahmos is superior to their ASMs. Jp & SoKo know very well the dangers of solely relying on US. When push comes to shove, US will just use them as proxies and not stand beside them. They could turn into another Ukraine. So we have case for two reasons - tactical capability, geopolitics. India is not going to back out in a war with China. India is the only country to stand up and give them a bloody nose and show the world how to take down the dragon. why does it matter if they have "proper operational doctrine" or logistical challenges - this is a stupid argument. By extension, it would mean no military in the world would expand their capabilities for tactical/geopolitical reasons at all. Just because they already have an inferior technology in place or because of logistical challenges. they are going to say no to tactical/geopolitical advantages ? None of the arguments you make makes any sense. None of the arguments you are presenting have any benefits to India. On the contrary, the arguments you are presenting, all of them, have benefits only to China.

 

[Bhishma]

Considering that even the funding for that is yet to be sanctioned, I fail to see how exactly the BrahMos II is a reality. What might be happening, however, is that we probably have the 450 km version, the 600 km version, and the 900 km version BrahMos missiles ready.

India doesnt always advertise extremely cutting edge tech to the world. First main reason is not to spook NATO. If you seen the pattern of our "Tests", its always curiously conducted and claimed successful whenever China does nonsense to India. Why "probably" ? We already have tested and proven that capability. We place an order for 200 Brahmos ER, who knows if its all a cover to fund the hypersonics. I found a 2009 article in official brahmos site discussing the development of hypersonics - that is a good 15 years ago. We could be having that capability and not advertising it. Highly possible. We already have hypersonic rudram. Dont you think that we might have mastered and inducted it already ?

 

[Anant]

India doesnt always advertise extremely cutting edge tech to the world. First main reason is not to spook NATO. If you seen the pattern of our "Tests", its always curiously conducted and claimed successful whenever China does nonsense to India. Why "probably" ? We already have tested and proven that capability. We place an order for 200 Brahmos ER, who knows if its all a cover to fund the hypersonics. I found a 2009 article in official brahmos site discussing the development of hypersonics - that is a good 15 years ago. We could be having that capability and not advertising it. Highly possible. We already have hypersonic rudram. Dont you think that we might have mastered and inducted it already ?

We don't advertise cutting-edge technology, but the funding allocations are generally mentioned, even if that is under false heads. BrahMos aerospace hasn't received the quantum of funding yet to develop the BrahMos unless you count in the order for 200 missiles for the Navy that was made a few months back. Moreover, development of the BrahMos-II was to include tech from Russia, and those negotiations were stuck up until before Russia's misadventures in Ukraine. Since then, no news of the negotiations has come forward.

Finally, even the Rudram-II is presently under development, with no public plans for the tests. Assuming for a minute that this tech is ready, the likelihood of it being transferred to a private corporation like BrahMos Aerospace is pretty low.

That is not to say that the BrahMos-II certainly doesn't exist. It might, but we tend to see some signs of such programs, which we haven't seen yet. If it does exist, perfect. If it doesn't, oh well.

 

[Anant]

While we should advertise our weapons and look for buyers we need to make sure that we put in place a number of safeguards so that they can't copy the crucial technology, parts, components and engine that powers the missile. We can make sure by only selling a inferior version of the Brahmos and not allow them to make the missile themselves. Otherwise if we offer the exact same missile as the one we use then we would have no military advantage and a current friend might turn into a enemy tomorrow.

Malaysia won't buy the Brahmos missile for their Sukhoi jets because it involves having to modify the jet and strengthen the undercarriage and air frame and they wont be able to afford the missile either so they will be happy to continue using the existing and cheaper Russian weapons. As for their naval ships they mostly use small to medium size naval ships which again will require modifications if they wanted to install the Brahmos missile.

Malaysia can't afford the BrahMos anyways, with their ongoing military modernisation. As for the missile itself, there is some speculation that we sell a slightly-downgraded version of the missile. In any case, the export variant's range is limited by MTCR limitations.