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Resty Woro Yuniar

Indonesia has become the third Southeast Asian nation – after Vietnam and the Philippines – to buy the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system jointly developed by India and Russia.
Analysts say the missiles will play a vital role in protecting Indonesia’s strategic waterways from becoming collateral damage in the event of a future great-power conflict.
The deal was signed on Tuesday during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day state visit to Indonesia, during which he held bilateral talks with President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta.
On Wednesday, the two leaders also visited the nearly 1,000-year-old Prambanan Hindu Temple in Yogyakarta, a symbolic gesture designed to illustrate their commitment to deepening cultural ties.

Modi hailed his visit as opening “a golden chapter” in India-Indonesia relations, while Prabowo touted it as a “historic milestone”.
“We’re two of ⁠the largest democracies in the world,” the Indonesian president said. “Partnerships between us will bring benefits to the region.”
No price tag or technical specification accompanied the BrahMos announcement, though a 2023 estimate put the cost at US$200 million to US$300 million.
A parallel deal between India’s state-owned Bharat Dynamics and Republikorp, Indonesia’s largest privately owned defence industrial holding company, was likely to centre on the Astra missile, an Indian government official told international media.
The two leaders also unveiled agreements spanning critical minerals, steel, agriculture and maritime security, including a new coastguard partnership aimed at policing the Indian Ocean.


Prabowo also threw his support behind India’s US$9 billion Great Nicobar project – a sprawling transshipment port and airport complex Delhi plans for islands it controls off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia in the Andaman Sea – while floating the idea that Sabang, Indonesia’s northernmost outpost, could become a “strategic link” between the two nations’ maritime ambitions.
Indonesia is already India’s second-largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, with two-way commerce topping US$23 billion last year. Coal, palm oil, steel, ferroalloys and jewellery make up the bulk of Indonesia’s shipments to India.
Maritime deterrence
For Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, an Indian defence analyst and resident senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the missile deals are as much about posture as firepower.
“Even though Indonesia is not a claimant state in the South China Sea dispute, China’s transgression into Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone and the Natuna Islands has been challenging,” Rajagopalan said, describing the BrahMos deal as “an effort at building limited deterrence capabilities, at least in the maritime domain”.
The sale also represented a strategic and “commercial win” for India, she said, adding that “India has finally shed its hesitations and is aiding states to push back effectively against China.”
Indonesia’s existing fleet of Russian-made Sukhoi jets, which are already compatible with BrahMos, makes it a natural fit, according to Adhi Priamarizki, a research fellow in the Indonesia programme at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Jakarta held much “potential” as a client for further Indian arms exports, he said.
Indonesia needs to have the capabilities to prevent its strategic waterways becoming a zone of confrontation
Keoni Marzuki, Indonesian defence analyst
Indonesia-based defence analyst Keoni Marzuki of Parahyangan University said the missile sale was especially relevant given “the prospect of Sino-American rivalry and recent geopolitical dynamics, particularly the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz”.
“Indonesia needs to have the capabilities to prevent its strategic waterways becoming a zone of confrontation between the two great powers,” he said.
A technical challenge awaits, however. BrahMos comes in land-, air- and ship-launched variants, but if Jakarta opted for the naval version, Marzuki warned that compatibility could become an issue “with the various radar systems” that the Indonesian Navy operates.

The potential Astra missile project poses fewer headaches, as it has already been tested on the Sukhoi-27/30s Indonesia flies and is reportedly slated for trials on India’s Rafale jets.
More intriguing to Marzuki was what the deal laid bare about Jakarta’s internal defence politics.
The Prabowo government’s “eyebrow-raising” preference for private-sector partners over state-owned defence firms “may reveal to what extent it trusts its own arm in the defence industry sector”, he said.
China’s unease
Analysts doubt Beijing will look favourably on the deal. “Perhaps China will privately warn Indonesia not to let its growing defence cooperation with India become part of a wider anti-China alignment,” said Muhammad Fauzan Malufti, a Jakarta-based defence research analyst with strategic consultancy Semar Sentinel.
“The US may quietly welcome the deals as they bring Jakarta closer to India, another important partner in balancing China.”
Rajagopalan agreed that while the missiles’ presence in Indonesia’s waters could unsettle Beijing, any response was likely to be muted.
“It is unlikely that Beijing will respond in a loud fashion, but it certainly won’t enjoy the fact that India is now selling the BrahMos system to three countries in Southeast Asia, all in China’s maritime neighbourhood,” she said.


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Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto shake hands after attending a joint press conference at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

BrahMos cruise missiles jointly developed by India and Russia are displayed at a defence expo in Kronstadt near St. Petersburg, Russia, last month. Photo: EPA

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto shake hands after attending a joint press conference at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

A ship of the Indonesian Navy is seen moored in Bali before the opening of a multilateral naval exercise last year. Analysts say integrating the ship-launched BrahMos variant could prove challenging. Photo: AFP

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Indian-Russian BrahMos cruise missiles are on display at the International Maritime Defence Show Fleet 2026 in Kronstadt, outside St Petersburg, Russia, on June 10. Photo: EPA

Pinaka multiple launch rocket system on display during India’s Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi in January 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

A Brahmos supersonic cruise missile is seen on display during the International Maritime Defence Show “Fleet” 2026 in Kronstadt on June 10. Photo: AFP

Officials from India and the UAE meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian, eastern France, on June 16. Photo: UAE Presidential Court / AFP

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A US guided-missile destroyer fires a Tomahawk land-attack missile as part of “Operation Epic Fury” on February 28. Photo: US Navy 

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Analysts say the missile deal aims to give Indonesia a supersonic shield to insulate its waterways from great-power clashes


Analysts say the missile deal aims to give Indonesia a supersonic shield to insulate its waterways from great-power clashes.


Indonesia-India BrahMos deal buys Jakarta conflict insurance

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Analysts say the missile deal aims to give Indonesia a supersonic shield to insulate its waterways from great-power clashes

Analysts say the missile deal aims to give Indonesia a supersonic shield to insulate its waterways from great-power clashes