Indonesia is expected to buy the ship-borne cruise missile variant for its warships. A team from the Indo-Russian joint venture, BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BAPL), has already visited Indonesia’s shipyard to study the possibility of fitting the missile.

On its part, Indonesia is preparing itself militarily for any eventuality in and around Natuna, suspecting that China is exploring opportunities to seize effective control of the islands. Both countries remain invested in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

Tensions between the two countries came to a head when, in December 2021, China demanded that Indonesia suspends oil and gas drilling in the water off its Natuna islands, also known as the North Natuna sea in Indonesia.

Indonesia did not stop the drilling, a job given to Noble Clyde Boudreaux on June 30, 2021, and completed on November 19. However, throughout that duration, Chinese and Indonesian ships shadowed each other around the oil and gas field, frequently coming within one nautical mile of each other.