New Delhi: The Philippines wants to buy more BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles from India and has asked New Delhi to help with its plans for a military satellite network, the Philippine defence secretary, Gilberto Teodoro, said on Wednesday.
Teodoro spoke by video link at the Delhi Defence Dialogue, an event hosted by the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA).
He said Manila hoped to expand its BrahMos inventory and had already sent Indian authorities a “wish list” of modifications to suit Philippine conditions. He called the missile a “very capable weapon”.
Indian sources familiar with the matter confirmed the request and said a fresh order could exceed the $375 million contract the two countries signed in January 2022. No figures or timelines have been made public by either government.
The Philippines was the first foreign customer for the BrahMos. That contract covers three shore-based anti-ship batteries for the Philippine Marine Corps, along with training and logistics support. India delivered the first battery by air in April 2024 and the second, by sea, in April 2025.
Reports in August 2026 said the third and final battery was being readied for shipment, although neither government had confirmed its delivery. Deliveries under the contract are expected to wrap up this year.
The BrahMos is built by BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya. The coastal anti-ship version has a range of about 290km-300km and flies at close to Mach 2.8. A ship-launched variant that can hit land targets also exists, but it has not been exported.
The Week reported in August that Manila was considering up to nine more batteries under its Integrated Shore-Based Anti-Ship Missile System plan. Neither government has confirmed this.
The request reflects Manila’s growing concern over the South China Sea, where the Philippines and Vietnam have maritime disputes with China in waters rich in hydrocarbons.
Indonesia, which has a small coastline on the sea but is not a party to the dispute, is among the other regional customers named for the coastal-launched BrahMos.
Teodoro also raised space cooperation, describing it as a “special request”. He said the Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, had directed the military to set up an Armed Forces of the Philippines Satellite Acquisition Programme, in which India would be “a very, very important potential partner”.
India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), and its defence space bodies are the likeliest counterparts.
