The Philippines, a U.S. ally, has hailed as a “game-changer” the delivery of new supersonic missiles that it believes will significantly beef up its coastal defenses amid rising tensions with China.

The first batch of BrahMos cruise missiles, ordered from India two years ago, arrived at Clark International Airport north of Manila on Friday. It was handed over to the Philippine marines to be deployed at an as yet undisclosed location within the country’s archipelagic territory.

The high-profile arms transfer comes in the middle of the simmering Philippines-China dispute in the contested Spratly Islands archipelago of the South China Sea, where the Chinese and Philippines coast guards have clashed over territorial features claimed by both sides.

  • theyoyomaster@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    “The missile were delivered on the back of an Indian air force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, images showed“

    …right below a picture of them being downloaded from an IL-76.

  • mlg@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    Not to discredit BrahMos but its not a very fast missile compared to hypersonics. KInd of wish Pakistan had attempted to shoot the one that went awry to see if they could actually intercept it since it goes mach 3.

    Also will be funny to see how the US actually reacts since BrahMos is half russian lol. They definitely didn’t like Turkey using russian made weapons.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      It’s not about the weapons themselves. It was that Turkey wanted the 100% Russian systems and the F-35. The US understandably does not want anyone able to train Russian anti air defense on the F-35’s signature.

    • theyoyomaster@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Just because hypersonic are reported on frequently as a catchy headline doesn’t mean they are functional weapons that any given country could go out and buy on the open market. They are very much in the test/development stage and only in reach for the top global super powers. No, it’s not as fast as the vaporwave buzzwords and if we’re doing our procurement from the ACE Combat DLC marketplace then sure, but for context, the US still relies primarily on the Tomahawk which flies at M.74, the same as a C-17. This absolutely is a high speed cruise missile.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The difference is usually in the purpose. Right now high speed missiles are great at interception. While slower missiles are better at target striking. This is because it’s really hard to go fast enough to not get hit in the terminal stage. It either has to follow a predictable trajectory or slow down to maneuver. So the US chooses missiles that fly low, follow terrain, and do crazy maneuvers in the terminal stage.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    8 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The Philippines, a U.S. ally, has hailed as a “game-changer” the delivery of new supersonic missiles that it believes will significantly beef up its coastal defenses amid rising tensions with China.

    The high-profile arms transfer comes in the middle of the simmering Philippines-China dispute in the contested Spratly Islands archipelago of the South China Sea, where the Chinese and Philippines coast guards have clashed over territorial features claimed by both sides.

    The missile were delivered on the back of an Indian air force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, images showed, and the fulfilment highlights India’s role as a major arms manufacturer and exporter, at a time when it is also proving itself to be a net security provider amid turmoil in the Red Sea.

    China maintains that maritime disputes should be handled properly with countries directly concerned through negotiation and consultation," Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek in an email.

    Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and lecturer at De La Salle University in Manila, said the BrahMos cruise missile, with an effective range of 180 miles, was “widely known for not being able to be intercepted by any known weapon system.”

    Malaya, the Philippines National Security Council official, told local media over the weekend that the BrahMos missiles would complement the tracking capability offered by radar systems acquired from Japan.


    The original article contains 807 words, the summary contains 227 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!