Indonesian Discourse On Buying India's BrahMos Missile, Deputy Minister Of Defense: No Contract Yet

Deputy Minister of Defense (Wamenhan) Donny Ermawan Taufanto stated that Indonesia has not provided India's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to date.

Even so, Donny admitted that the discussion regarding BrahMos was also discussed when Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin received a visit from the Chief of Defense Staff of the Indian Armed Forces (CDS) General Anil Chauhan this Tuesday.

"Oh, not yet," said Donny at the Ministry of Defense Office, Jakarta, during a press conference after the meeting.

During the meeting, according to Donny, the Indian CDS General Anil said that the BrahMos missile had been used for various operations, either ground-to-ground, ground-to-sea, or air-to-ground.

"They (India) have also modified their Sukhoi [to] bring BrahMos, but we still don't have a contract with India for BrahMos," added the Deputy Minister of Defense.

In addition, Donny said that General Anil had offered to modify the Sukhoi belonging to the Republic of Indonesia to be equipped with a BrahMos missile. However, this cannot be realized because there is no official contract related to BrahMos between Indonesia and India.

"It was offered to modify our Sukhoi to be able to bring BrahMos, yes, but we haven't, to buy BrahMos either," he said.

India has actually explored opportunities for the collaboration of BrahMos' missile technology with the Republic of Indonesia when India's Chief of Naval Staff (KSAL) Admiral K. Tripathi visited Jakarta in December 2024.

During the visit, Admiral Tripathi, one of them, met with KSAL RI Admiral TNI Muhammad Ali at the Indonesian Navy Headquarters, Cilangkap.

Admiral Ali explained that the opportunity for defense technology collaboration, including the BrahMos missile, was indeed one of the topics of discussion in his meeting with Tripathi.

However, Ali was reluctant to comment much, especially regarding the possibility of a plan to purchase the BrahMos missile, because the procurement of defense equipment is under the authority of the Ministry of Defense.

"For the issue of defense equipment related to the BrahMos missile, this is indeed an option, possibly. We are still reviewing whether that will be chosen by the Ministry of Defense, but later all of the Ministry of Defense will manage it," said KSAL in Jakarta, Tuesday, December 17, 2024.