An Indian-Russian supersonic missile could be a problem for China

by Dramelin 12:00 AM 0 comments

Many Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, are reportedly interested in purchasing the state-of-the-art BrahMos missile, which has a flight range of nearly 300 kilometers.
Hanoi is currently locked in a territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea, so a purchase of the missiles could be seen as an escalation from the Chinese perspective.
If the transaction materializes, "that would demonstrate an Indian willingness to arm a state right on China`s doorstep for the first time," said Shashank Joshi, senior fellow for international affairs at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s administration has denied reports that it was selling to Hanoi, but officials in the communist state have hinted that a deal was in place.
Dubbed "the carrier killer," the BrahMos can be launched from land, sea and air.
Low maintenance requirements make it the most cost-effective model among existing cruise missiles systems, according to the firm.
The rocket is able to precisely target enemy assets such as bunkers and radar systems, similar to what U.
Tomahawk missiles did to Islamic State infrastructure.