Indian Navy Chief Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar announced on Monday that the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, built jointly by India and Russia, will become the Indian Navy's'mainstay' as a surface-to-surface system, replacing older missiles from other countries.

Speaking on the sidelines of a defense exhibition in Pune, the navy chief noted that BrahMos is manufactured in India, providing 'a great advantage' to the country in terms of both combat capabilities and self-reliance in defense.

'BrahMos will be our primary weapon now as the surface-to-surface missile weapon. Probably the Air Force and the air fighters also will have that as the primary air-to-surface weapon. [BrahMos] has evolved in range, capabilities, in its lethality, and so on. So, this is going to be the mainstay for some time and that is why we are replacing all old missiles with this,' Kumar stated. 'It is a very potent missile, and it has been evolving,' he added.

The navy chief's remarks come on the heels of the country's Cabinet Committee on Security clearing the procurement of over 200 BrahMos missiles under a 190-billion-rupee ($2.3 billion) contract with BrahMos Aerospace, an Indo-Russian joint venture. The deal is expected to be signed early next month.

New Delhi believes BrahMos to be one of the major systems for defense exports as part of the Narendra Modi government's aim to make India a worldwide weapon supplier. At the World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, Praveen Pathak, BrahMos Aerospace's director of exports, said that the company's order portfolio had surpassed $7 billion, which included both local and international orders. He also said that Saudi Arabia expressed a 'great deal of interest' in procuring the missiles.

The chief of India's Defense Research and Development Organization further stated that the missiles are 'drawing a lot of interest' from potential buyers. Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia are thought to have indicated an interest in procuring the cruise missile. BrahMos secured a $375 million deal with the Philippines in 2022 for the high-capability missiles, with delivery set to begin in March.