India Defence Exports and Relations

Gessler

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Czech MoD bought 80,000 x 120mm heavy mortar shells and 50,000 x 125mm tank shells from India's MIL.

czechia.jpg


Most of Czechia's Soviet-origin tank platforms (which use 125mm shells) have already been transferred to Ukraine, so if these rounds are indeed going to Ukraine I've no idea how they plan on circumventing these End-User rules.

Even if they don't, the Czechs plan on upgrading & keeping a few dozen of their T-72M4CZs for quite a while so I guess that's for what these shells are for.

However, the fresh sales would still free up the Czechs to transfer whatever 125mm ammo they already have to Ukraine.

@Nilgiri @UkroTurk
 

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Philippines Builds First BrahMos Anti-Ship Missile Base Facing South China Sea​


From Western Luzon, Manila's new supersonic cruise missiles can hold adversaries at risk up to 290-300 kilometers away.


Aaron-Matthew Lariosa 14 Jun 2024


According to recently released satellite imagery, the Philippines’ first BrahMos anti-ship missile base is taking shape at a naval installation facing the South China Sea.

Manila’s order of the Indian supersonic cruise missiles in 2022 marked a significant milestone in its defense modernization program that aimed to modernize the country’s outdated military amid regional disputes with China. Procured under the Philippine Navy’s Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile Acquisition Project, the $375 million sale earmarked three batteries of BrahMos missiles and technical support for the system to the Philippine Marine Corps Coastal Defense Regiment. The purchase also marked the first international sale of New Delhi’s missile system, reportedly sparking more international interest in the system by countries in the region such as Vietnam and Indonesia.
Naval News has identified the construction of a BrahMos site at Philippine Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui in Zambales on the coast of Western Luzon. Photographs reveal a new base being constructed south of the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy on a plot of land previously used as an area for amphibious assault and coastal defense training by the country’s armed forces. The only other structure in the area before the beginning of construction was a shed meant to store a few Marine amphibious assault vehicles.

Side-by-side comparison of Philippine and Indian BrahMos sites. 1: High-Bay for missile maintenance and assembly. 2: Missile Magazines for storage. (Copyright © 2024 by MAXAR Technologies via Google Earth)

Shortly after ordering BrahMos, excavation for the base was underway by August 25th, 2022. In the two years since then as of May 2nd, 2024, the site sports similar buildings to what is seen at BrahMos sites in operation by the Indian Armed Forces, specifically a high-bay facility that supports the maintenance and testing of the system and a sheltered magazine bunker to store the missiles. Compared to Indian BrahMos bases, the Philippine Navy’s installation appears smaller. This is likely a result of the reduced capacity of the BrahMos systems that Manila purchased, which only have two missiles per launcher to the three found on Indian launchers.

Philippine BrahMos Site
Site excavation on August 25th, 2022. (Copyright © 2024 by MAXAR Technologies via Google Earth)

Adjacent to the high-bay and missile magazine, construction on another set of structures appears to be ongoing. Given the lack of an existing garage to host the battery’s missile launchers, it is likely that this will be constructed in this area. It should be noted that although the delivery of the missiles officially began in April, it is unclear if their transporter-erector-launchers have been delivered to the Philippines. Other facilities related to command and control and unit administration should also be built in this section.

Manila’s first BrahMos missile base in Western Luzon positions the supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles to strike targets 290-300 kilometers away. Scarborough Shoal, a disputed feature between the Philippines and China that has been de facto occupied by Beijing’s naval forces since 2012, is roughly 250 kilometers from the new base. The mobile nature of the BrahMos system also allows batteries to relocate to different firing locations to reach out against other targets off Western Luzon and avoid enemy counterstrikes.

Another potential deployment site for BrahMos may be by the Philippine Marine Corps 4th Marine Brigade at its headquarters in Camp Cape Bojeador in Burgos, Ilocos Norte. Development plans displayed at the base show a section labeled “Coastal Defense Regiment.” Upon closer examination, a similar design to the high-bay in Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui can be seen. If deployed from here, BrahMos would be able to cover most of the Luzon Strait from the Northern Philippines.

The Coastal Defense Regiment, the Philippine Marine unit responsible for the operation of BrahMos, has also received donated land from local officials in Lubang and Calayan for coastal defense purposes. Defense officials cited the islands as “strategic locations, with Lubang overlooking access to Manila Bay and Calayan positioned in the Luzon Strait.

BrahMos’ initial procurement was touted by former Philippine Secretary of National Defense Delfin Lorenzana, who claimed that “BrahMos missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine our sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea.”

Since then, the Philippine Army has identified BrahMos as a likely procurement under the next phase of the country’s military modernization program. Last summer, then-Philippine Army Chief General Romeo Brawner told the service that they would procure both the Indian missile system and HIMARS in the coming years. According to Brawner, the Army would procure more than the Marine Corps three missile batteries and deploy them in a similar coastal defense mission.

As the Philippines had never used such high-end systems before BrahMos, the country has turned to its only treaty ally to help train its forces in modern systems and tactics. In recent years, the U.S. and Philippine Marine Corps have drilled in forming combined networks to identify and strike targets out at sea using aircraft, artillery, and missile systems. Exercise planners described to Naval News this process of forming a “kill chain” following the sinking of a decommissioned Philippine Navy vessel during last year’s Balikatan drills.
Malay Samani contributed to this story.
 

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@Nilgiri Do you think it will go anywhere? They also had disscusion last time in 2022. When Modi told her to speed up the radar procurement process. (24x coastal surveillance radars) That still hasn't been materialized.

I think now that Indian PM mentioned joint production(?), the previous offer was serious. India is Probably hoping this way it will give some sense of control over the process to BD armed forces and they will get something out of it with ToT. Hence it wouldn't look too much one way.

Yet strangely enough, they didn't sign any agreement on defence this time. signed agreements are for cooperation in maritime security, ocean economy, space, and telecommunication sectors.
 

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@Nilgiri Do you think it will go anywhere? They also had disscusion last time in 2022. When Modi told her to speed up the radar procurement process. (24x coastal surveillance radars) That still hasn't been materialized.

I think now that Indian PM mentioned joint production(?), the previous offer was serious. India is Probably hoping this way it will give some sense of control over the process to BD armed forces and they will get something out of it with ToT. Hence it wouldn't look too much one way.

Yet strangely enough, they didn't sign any agreement on defence this time. signed agreements are for cooperation in maritime security, ocean economy, space, and telecommunication sectors.

Seems to be a stasis overall.....but maybe understandable stasis. So we will have to see, but both sides are pretty reluctant

BD - India is very unique situation and context in the end that leads to trust deficit for the echelon here regd defence material.

BD is almost entirely surrounded by India and exerts significant counter soft power on Indian Bengali people right to its western vector. The Northern, Eastern vectors are sensitive security spots for India and have social stability problems for a long time (that Bengali people interweave within in their complicated way).

This is a country that will be around 200 million people for the long term this century with growing economy and the need to integrate as it does with Indian trade and logistics and so on (given how India, Nepal etc are arranged around it and Burma being a lost cause for very long time)..... the scale of this arrangement is not found anywhere else in world at early raw development picture with grievances/mistrust sufficiently in enough of the picture (as good as other parts of picture have been and progress there).

BD has its legacy of partition and being part of Pakistan originally....there was certain uneasiness even after BD liberation war with BAL and then some measure of hostility resurfaced with BNP after it. The deeper issues driving these continue for a long time in the end everywhere in world, its case if you have developed enough other things to keep them bottled up or channeled away/distributed in various ways downstream.....things that are still work in progress for BD and India.

I mean if some quirk of geography and historical circumstance, BD was geographically arranged/splayed more equitably with Burma (rather than one chokepoint area with Arakan, and even that being significant enough problem security wise as is) or even China....never had or needed a history with Pakistan and altogether very different context with Indian people (say ethnic and/or other identity lines were somehow reflected in that arrangement, history and border much more), we likely see a very different and dynamic security relationship potential with India (given the politics and context is much more "neater" etc)....regarding how respective establishments cooperate and drawn upon each other transactionally or more deeply with time etc.

But then more things turn into other kinds of coinflips in these hypotheticals (holding development on economy, society, population roughly the same as possible) that could be good, bad or ugly for BD people and nation (i.e the details regarding Burma, China et al. that come into larger view as Indian one is retreated), so who knows if that would be better anyway.


Anyway proximity + sizes +contexts involved here means there will always be a mistrust issue at the defence level. i.e what is the interest of India to genuinely arm BD (and for BD to also genuinely trust and be receptive India here) when there is heavy proximity and rawness on issues at same time.

The only reason can be a threat from Burma or China going through Burma to get to BD in some other hypothetical (where China and BD have some major beef for whatever reason)....but the 1st one is chokepointed to begin with in this reality....95% of border is with India and sensitive parts of India relatively speaking.

Way I see it, in current context for this decade and likely another decade, BD will harmonize relationship with India as far as possible and not be dependent on China for equipment etc where possible (using say Western + Turkish) to not antagonize India too much....and have these nominal meets/talks and some odds and ends done here and there maybe too, past the specialised officer training and all that which is going fine already.
 

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As the Philippines had never used such high-end systems before BrahMos, the country has turned to its only treaty ally to help train its forces in modern systems and tactics. In recent years, the U.S. and Philippine Marine Corps have drilled in forming combined networks to identify and strike targets out at sea using aircraft, artillery, and missile systems. Exercise planners described to Naval News this process of forming a “kill chain” following the sinking of a decommissioned Philippine Navy vessel during last year’s Balikatan drills.
Malay Samani contributed to this story.

@Afif

This should definitively answer the question of the Philippines' ability to acquire OTH targets for BrahMos to engage at longer ranges: they'll be relying on the US to provide those inputs.

As I mentioned before, the BrahMos electronics (both onboard & ground-based) were made fully MIL-STD, adhering to Indian military requirements. This should present minimal, if any, problems in incorporating targeting inputs supplied by US platforms, provided the necessary downlinks for SATCOM/Link-16 are furnished by the customer as per their need.
 

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Most of Czechia's Soviet-origin tank platforms (which use 125mm shells) have already been transferred to Ukraine, so if these rounds are indeed going to Ukraine I've no idea how they plan on circumventing these End-User rules.

Never mind, the Indian shells made it to Ukraine (the yellow ones):

125.jpeg


125 2.jpeg
 

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Bangladesh Navy to procure Ocean-going tug from India​

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Bangladesh Navy has signed a contract for a ‘Made in India’ 800-ton-Ocean Going Tug with India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilding and Engineers.

The signing, held on Sunday, coincides with the visit of India’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi to Bangladesh, as per UNB reports.


@Nilgiri this, and there was also talk about floating dock and oil tanker for Navy.

How much does a 800 tons tugboat cost though?
 

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Bangladesh Navy to procure Ocean-going tug from India​

View attachment 69063


Bangladesh Navy has signed a contract for a ‘Made in India’ 800-ton-Ocean Going Tug with India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilding and Engineers.

The signing, held on Sunday, coincides with the visit of India’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi to Bangladesh, as per UNB reports.


@Nilgiri this, and there was also talk about floating dock and oil tanker for Navy.

How much does a 800 tons tugboat cost though?

Could be around 10 mil range, could be bit lower or higher, depends on the details.

Here are 600 ton tugboats for USN costing about 14 million each:


Indian navy 500 ton tugboats costed about 9 million each:

 

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In total $325 millions are to be spent on Indian hardware.
I guess they can also get the tanker and floating dock from Indian shipyards gradually.
 

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In total $325 millions are to be spent on Indian hardware.
I guess they can also get the tanker and floating dock from Indian shipyards gradually.
Any idea about the displacement of tanker?
 

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@Nilgiri these directly drove through the border into BD. 11x Tata MRAP ordered in 2022 under LoC. Don't know much about their performance. I wonder how they compare to MaxxPro and Cobra ii. @Gessler
 

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@Nilgiri these directly drove through the border into BD. 11x Tata MRAP ordered in 2022 under LoC. Don't know much about their performance. I wonder how they compare to MaxxPro and Cobra ii. @Gessler

Their heritage comes from the Casspir (south africa) if you look at history of Indian requirements and induction (then further production of MRAP inside India based on it etc). They have been further improved to deal with more sorts of IEDs that have been encountered since.

I guess it offers a higher carrying capacity than current MRAP within BD?
 

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India becomes exporter of sniper rifles, Bengaluru firm bags mega contract from friendly nation


SSS Defence not only bags contract to supply .338 Lapua Magnum calibre sniper rifle, but also deals to deliver nearly USD 50 million worth of ammunition to multiple friendly countries.​

SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP
09 July, 2024 09:40 am IST

https://www.linkedin.com/shareArtic...+firm+bags+mega+contract+from+friendly+nation
The 338 Saber Sniper Rifle can hit targets up to 1,500 m and beyond | Pic credit: SSS Defence

The 338 Saber Sniper Rifle can hit targets up to 1,500 m and beyond

New Delhi: Bengaluru-based small-arms manufacturer SSS Defence has bagged and fulfilled a mega export contract from a friendly foreign country for the supply of .338 Lapua Magnum calibre sniper rifle, ThePrint has learnt.

This is the first time when India has exported sniper files to a foreign country, sources in the defence establishment told ThePrint.

The sniper rifle is completely designed and made in India, including its barrel.
Interestingly, not only the sniper rifles, the private firm has bagged contracts for the supply of nearly USD 50 million worth of ammunition from multiple friendly countries.


The defence sources said that while private companies are also looking for clients on their own, the Indian government is hand holding them through faster clearances and also channelling foreign requests to them.

India’s annual defence production has hit a record high of approximately Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2023-24, with the Make in India programme crossing new milestones.

“India is now manufacturing and exporting a large number of equipment, from artillery guns to missile systems and small arms. India was till now an importer of these systems, but now we have started exporting them,” one of the sources said.

The sources said that SSS Defence has already completed the export of the sniper rifles, which are intended for targets up to 1,500 metres and beyond, and are in talks with a few other nations as well.


Delegations from these countries have visited the company’s manufacturing and testing centre in Bengaluru and are in talks, they added.

This rifle has high export potential because at least 30 countries use the .338 Lapua Magnum sniper and over a dozen manufacturers produce rifles, in multiple configurations, in this calibre.

While the country has started exporting sniper rifles, the Indian Army has been in search of one for the last several years. In 2019, the Army’s Northern Command bought a limited number of .50 Calibre M95 by Barrett and the .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT by Beretta.

However, the larger order for 4,500 sniper rifles is still pending with the trials not even started though bids were called in by the Army over a year and half ago. The sources said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has hit the supply chain for many countries and that India is trying to fill in the vacuum.

https://theprint.in/defence/india-b...s-mega-contract-from-friendly-nation/2166312/
 

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