Does Indonesia Need to Purchase BrahMos Missiles from India?
Indonesia’s Defence Ministry has reached an agreement with India to acquire the BrahMos supersonic missile system as part of modernising its main defence systems equipment. Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, head of the Defence Ministry’s Information Bureau, stated that plans to acquire this supersonic missile system have been in progress for several years.
“In 2024, a memorandum of understanding or expression of interest was conducted within the framework of defence cooperation between Indonesia and India,” he said in a statement on Thursday, 12 March 2026.
The government has not yet been able to disclose further details regarding the BrahMos missile acquisition. According to him, information regarding the number of units, contract value, and delivery schedule is contractual in nature and cannot be published openly.
“Currently, the process is still related to budget availability and further mechanisms. We will inform you when it arrives,” said the one-star general.
An India Today report from 27 January 2025 stated that Indonesia had completed a purchase agreement for BrahMos missiles from India valued at US$450 million, equivalent to approximately Rp 7.6 trillion. The BrahMos missile is a weapon system developed through cooperation between India and Russia. The name BrahMos is derived from the Brahmaputra River in India and the Moscow River in Russia.
This supersonic cruise missile system is designed as a weapon with high precision capability to strike targets both on land and at sea. One of the advantages of the BrahMos missile is its speed, which reaches approximately Mach 2.8 to Mach 3, or nearly three times the speed of sound. The high speed of the BrahMos missile makes this supersonic missile difficult to intercept by air defence systems.
Beyond precision and speed, the BrahMos missile has considerable range. The standard BrahMos variant can reach targets approximately 300 to 500 kilometres away. The export variant typically has its range limited to 290 kilometres, in accordance with international missile technology control regulations.
The BrahMos missile is also flexible as it can be launched from various platforms such as fighter aircraft, submarines, warships, and mobile ground launchers. For BrahMos missiles fired from ships or land-based platforms, the length is 8.2 metres with a body diameter of 0.67 metres, and a launch weight of 3,000 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, the BrahMos missile launched from air has a length of 8.0 metres, a diameter of 0.67 metres, and a launch weight of 2,200 to 2,500 kilogrammes. The warhead carried by this supersonic cruise missile manufactured by India and Russia reaches 200 to 300 kilogrammes or a submunition warhead of 250 kilogrammes.
Beni Sukadis, a researcher from the Indonesian Defence and Strategic Studies Institute, questioned the readiness of Indonesian personnel training who would eventually operate the BrahMos missiles. He also questioned efforts to maintain the BrahMos missile carrier vehicles to enable long-term operation.
“I see this BrahMos purchase adding deterrence for the Indonesian military for coastal defence,” he said when contacted on Wednesday, 11 March 2026.
Indonesia’s defence agencies, he said, wish to implement an anti-access/area denial defence strategy, a military strategy that focuses on preventing or limiting enemies from entering defence territory. Although clarification is needed regarding personnel and carrier vehicles, Beni assessed the purchase of BrahMos missiles from India as still falling within the military modernisation framework following the Minimum Essential Force 2019-2024.
“For urgency, it could be said to be relevant because uncertain geopolitical issues make conflicts possible in areas such as the South China Sea,” he said.
Moreover, he noted that China has recently been quite aggressive in conducting military manoeuvres, not only in the South China Sea but also in the Taiwan Strait. Such conditions, he said, could lead Indonesia to be drawn into the conflict should Chinese authorities act recklessly or be trigger-happy. “Although not a party involved, Indonesia could be drawn into the conflict because it is located near the conflict zone,” he said.
Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait, head of the Defence Ministry’s Information Bureau, stated that the acquisition of BrahMos missiles would subsequently be used to support Indonesia’s coastal defence capabilities. “To strengthen Indonesia’s maritime defence,” he said.