Defence Exports

Smruti D

After a sustained effort of over two decades, BrahMos Aerospace finally tasted success. And with it, the Indian defence industry had something to cheer about. The Philippines signed an agreement worth USD 374.96 million with BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd for the supply of shore-based anti-ship missile systems.

The contract was signed by the defence secretary of the Philippines, Delfin N. Lorenzana and Director General of BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd., Atul Dinkar Rane in a virtual ceremony on January 28. The Hindu reported that the contract included delivery of three missile batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package. This export order is in consonance with desperate Indian efforts to ramp-up defence exports. While the challenges remain, first about the BrahMos supersonic missile.

A joint venture between India’s Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyenia, BrahMos Aerospace, was established in India through an Inter-Governmental Agreement in 1998. The JV company started participating in international defence and aerospace shows in 2001. Each year, it participates in at least one national exhibition and about three to four international ones across the globe.

Despite several countries showing interest in the missile, BrahMos had not been able to crack the international market until recently for a number of reasons. In an interview to FORCE, Rane points out that the present order did not come overnight. The Philippines was in contact with BrahMos for over five years. Interestingly, the BrahMos export to the Philippines may not earn the company any profit. As Rane says in the interview, competing against well-known international players, the main aim was to put the foot inside the doorway. According to him, one of the ways to leverage the Indian advantage would be to offer a package of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd-made Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) fitted with BrahMos NG or air to air missile Astra to potential importers.

After the BrahMos deal fell in place, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) signed a contract with the government of Mauritius (GoM) also to export the advanced version of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH Mark-III) for the Mauritius police force. The East-African country already operates HAL-built ALH and Do-228 aircraft, given on lease in 2021 for two years. Mauritius bought the ALH through a line of credit extended to it by the government of India.

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Such a Long Journey

While the BrahMos missile is the biggest Indian export order so far, HAL had been in the export business for a while. HAL is one of the few Indian defence companies, albeit in the public sector, which has relentlessly been seeking export opportunities. The aerospace major made its first overseas sale in 2009 to Ecuador worth USD 45.2 million after winning the competitive global tender for ALH Dhruv helicopters. The programme, unfortunately, did not end well.

In 2015, Ecuador terminated the contract unilaterally after four of the seven helicopters crashed. The following year, Ecuador went a step ahead and put the remaining three on sale. Later, when HAL attempted exports again targeting a few South-east Asian countries, it laid emphasis on carrying out the maintenance of these aircraft on its own. Clearly, HAL had learnt the lesson from the Ecuador experience. Even in the recent case of Mauritius, HAL in a statement mentioned that it would ‘ensure technical assistance and product support to the customer to ensure healthy serviceability of the helicopter.’

In its attempts to be seen on the world defence exporters’ map, the ministry of defence (MoD) along with the domestic defence industry have been making efforts for indigenisation which could lead to exports. Attempting to build trust among potential buyers of the LCA Tejas and military helicopters, HAL in 2020 announced that it would set up logistics bases in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Sri