Indo-Pacific Missile & Aircraft Happenings: India & Others

BrahMos anti-ship and land attack missiles displayed in Indian parade.
(Photo courtesy India's Economic Times).
--- 

The US seeks to consolidate alliances with countries that have some dealings with Russian while they oppose China. 

Gessler, on July 21, 2022, reported some Indo-Pacific missile and aircraft happenings.  

1)  Indonesia appears to want to purchase the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile system from India. India and Russia jointly developed BrahMos. In January 2022 another Indo-Pacific country, the Philippines, placed an order worth $375 million for BrahMos. This missile system seems to be a favourite in the region as an affordable means for island states to build their own Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) network as a hedge against China's PLA Navy's increasing encroachments.  

2)  The US House of Representatives has voted in favour of granting an official waiver to India from the US CAATSA sanctions regime with bipartisan support (Democrat & Republican). The sanctions, would otherwise target countries that buy weapon systems from Russia (such as NATO ally Turkey which bought the S-400 anti-air missile system). While the provision to grant a US Executive waiver (signed by the President) already existed, the new amendment, if it also passes the Senate, will make such a waiver part of law. 

It would also grant a further reprieve to countries which are official US allies (like the Philippines) but seek to purchase systems that contain Russian components, as long as they do so via India. Case in point being the BrahMos missiles. 

It could also encourage ASEAN states that operate Sukhoi Su-27 and Su-30 Flanker fighter platforms (like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam) to service & maintain their jets via India's HAL (which has localized all the infrastructure to maintain the Indian Air Force's 270-stronge fleet of Flankers), bypassing direct dealings with Russian companies which could upset the US in the current situation. 

3)  Boeing & US Navy representatives have successfully completed the trials of F/A-18 Super Hornet from ski-jump (and arrested landing) at the Indian Naval Air Station Hansa in Goa, video link below. See these Super Hornet tests in video here and below. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block-III (the current USN standard) is competing with the Dassault Rafale-M for a 26-jet order to provide the definitive aviation complex for India's first domestically-built carrier INS Vikrant. The order could expand to 57 in future. Rafale had completed its trials earlier this year, a decision is awaited.