UAE Eyes India’s BrahMos Supersonic Missile as Gulf Arms Race Intensifies

Defence affairs - Def-Geopolitics

Abu Dhabi’s fast-moving talks with India over the BrahMos cruise missile and Akashteer AI-enabled air defence network could reshape the Middle East military balance and accelerate Gulf military modernisation.

The United Arab Emirates’ preliminary talks with India to acquire the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile and the Akashteer air defence command-and-control network are emerging as one of the most strategically consequential defence developments in the Middle East this year.

Reuters reported that Abu Dhabi and New Delhi are conducting fast-moving early-stage discussions involving the BrahMos missile and the AI-enabled Akashteer C4ISR air defence architecture, according to four Indian government sources familiar with the negotiations.

Although no agreement, pricing structure, quantity framework, or delivery timeline has been publicly finalised, the talks indicate that the UAE is accelerating efforts to harden its military posture following recent Iranian missile and drone attacks during the latest regional conflict.

The renewed Emirati urgency is heavily linked to the strategic vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz, which remains one of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints for global energy exports and commercial shipping flows.

By exploring Indian missile and command-and-control technologies, Abu Dhabi is signalling a broader shift toward supplier diversification as Gulf states increasingly seek strategic autonomy beyond traditional Western defence ecosystems.

The UAE already fields advanced American-made THAAD and Patriot air defence systems alongside ATACMS ballistic missiles with an operational range approaching 300 kilometres, yet current regional threat perceptions are driving demand for layered and distributed strike architectures.

The potential BrahMos acquisition would significantly enhance the UAE’s maritime denial and rapid precision-strike capabilities because the missile’s Mach 2.8 to Mach 3.5 flight speed compresses enemy reaction windows to only a few minutes.

Its low-altitude sea-skimming flight profile and terminal manoeuvrability would complicate interception attempts even for modern integrated air defence systems operating advanced radar AESA tracking networks.

The Akashteer system, meanwhile, represents a different category of strategic value because it integrates radars, sensors, communications, and engagement assets into a real-time AI-enabled command-and-control battlespace management architecture.

That combination could allow the UAE to build a highly responsive system-of-systems warfare framework capable of coordinating responses against drones, cruise missiles, combat aircraft, and saturation attacks simultaneously.

The talks also demonstrate how India’s defence exports are transitioning from regional influence tools into geopolitical instruments capable of reshaping force projection dynamics far beyond the Indo-Pacific theatre.

For New Delhi, a successful UAE deal would represent a strategic breakthrough into the Gulf arms market while validating India’s emergence as a credible high-end military exporter alongside established Western, Russian, and Asian aerospace industry powers.