India will commence training of Philippines armed forces on operating the supersonic BrahMos missile system from July. In January this year, the two countries inked a deal worth over 375 million dollars. It was the first big export order bagged by India for supplying hi-tech weapon systems.

The missile is a joint venture between India and Russia and this missile can hit a target at a range of more than 300km. The BrahMos Aerospace, the Hyderabad based company manufacturing this missile is now assisting the Philippines in setting up systems for the anti-ship missile. The Philippines navy formed the first battalion of the BrahMos earlier this month.

India will supply three batteries of the BrahMos missile to the Philippines over the next two to three years, sources said. These missiles have a speed of 2.8 Mach (thrice the speed of sound) and the contract includes training of the crew and the necessary integrated logistics support package.

Encouraged by this contract, India is now engaged in parleys with Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and a few other nations for exporting the BrahMos system, sources said. The missile can be fired from land, sea, air and submarines. India has already inducted the missile system into the Army and Navy. In fact, some missile batteries are now deployed all along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) facing China.

Appreciating the qualities of the missile system, the Philippines Marine Corps said it will be operating one of the best anti-ship missile systems on the planet which can quickly detect, track, chase and destroy targets, according to reports from the Philippines.

Recently, the missile was in the news after it misfired and landed in Pakistan. The missile was fired from a base in Sirsa and there were no casualties in Pakistan. The IAF has already started the Court of Inquiry and the Indian government said it viewed the incident seriously.

The Philippines and some other countries had sought clarification after the incident. The Indian officials from Delhi had communicated the reasons for the incident and they understood the matter completely, officials said.