SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
In the aftermath of India’s highly successful cruise missile strikes on Pakistani Air Force (PAF) airbases, global interest in the Indo-Russian BrahMos missile system has surged dramatically. Sources close to idrw.org have confirmed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) used a fraction—less than 1%—of its BrahMos missile inventory to conduct precision strikes that effectively grounded PAF operations within just 23 minutes. The results have sent shockwaves through defense communities worldwide, particularly for the missile’s demonstrated ability to evade and destroy advanced Chinese-supplied HQ-9 and HQ-16 air defense systems deployed at the targeted bases.
Capitalizing on this momentum, Russia is now actively marketing its own K-300P Bastion-P mobile coastal defense missile system—also known by its NATO designation SSC-5 “Stooge”—to international buyers. The Bastion-P employs the supersonic P-800 Oniks anti-ship cruise missile, which forms the foundational technology on which the BrahMos missile is based. Officials familiar with the matter told idrw.org that Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has begun offering the Bastion-P to countries that have expressed interest in the BrahMos, hoping to leverage the shared lineage of the two systems.
The renewed attention to supersonic cruise missile technology comes as countries in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam and Indonesia, are closely monitoring the BrahMos system’s battlefield performance. Both nations have reportedly advanced their procurement discussions in light of the missile’s success in real combat conditions.
Defense analysts at idrw.org believe that Russia’s push for the Bastion-P is a strategic move to tap into the market demand generated by BrahMos’ success. While BrahMos remains a joint venture between India’s DRDO and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, the Bastion-P is a wholly Russian system that allows Moscow to independently market a similar capability—particularly in regions where India may exercise strategic restraint in arms exports.
However, experts caution that while the Bastion-P and BrahMos share the same P-800 Oniks core, they differ in deployment doctrine, user interface, and platform integration. BrahMos offers land, sea, and air-launched variants with seamless Indian infrastructure compatibility, whereas the Bastion-P is predominantly a coastal defense asset.
Nonetheless, with BrahMos proving its mettle in operational settings and creating shockwaves across adversarial defense systems, the global appetite for advanced supersonic strike capabilities is only expected to grow—offering both India and Russia a golden window to expand their influence in the strategic missile export market.
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