Malaysia to study proposal for India's BrahMos missile system

LUMUT: Malaysia will study a proposal to acquire India's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.

"Whatever it is, we will study it for each service. If this is for air-to-surface missiles, it comes under the Air Force, so we will study it," he said.

He said the proposal, which was raised during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's recent visit to India, would first be studied by the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

"Whenever not only the prime minister, but ministers as well, travel anywhere, there are many parties wanting to sell all kinds of things," he said.

He told reporters this after opening the 93rd Armed Forces Day celebrations at the Royal Malaysian Navy Base here today.

He said the assessment would also consider the implications of integrating the proposed missile system with existing equipment, including whether upgrades would be required for the Sukhoi fighter jets.

"We also have to look at our defence doctrine," he said.

Khaled said Malaysia's existing missiles had a range of slightly more than 100km, while the proposed system had a range of between 300km and 400km.

"So, who are we going to fire at? That depends on our defence doctrine," he said.

The BrahMos system is a long-range, ramjet-powered supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya through their joint venture, BrahMos Aerospace.

The missile can be deployed from multiple platforms, including land-based mobile launchers, warships, submarines and fighter aircraft, giving operators flexibility in conducting precision strikes against targets at sea and on land.