Israel to pip US as India's largest arms supplier with Barak missiles, UAVs

BREAKING NEWS - Israel is set to overtake the US and become India’s largest foreign arms supplier in 2016-17 with lucrative contracts to supply advanced anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems to the army and navy.

On Thursday, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced the award of Indian defence contracts totalling “almost $2 billion” (Rs 13,000 crore).

One mega-contract worth over $1.6 billion, which an IAI release termed “the largest defense contract in Israel's defense industries’ (sic) history” is for the supply of Medium Range Surface to Air Missiles (MR-SAM) to the Indian Army.

In addition, IAI says it has been awarded a contract to supply additional Long Range Surface to Air Missiles (LR-SAMs) anti-ship missile defence systems for INS Vikrant, India’s first home-built aircraft carrier, which is being constructed in Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and IAI have jointly developed MR-SAM and LR-SAM. The DRDO developed the propulsion systems of the MR-SAM, while IAI developed the radar and guidance systems.

The LR-SAM, also called the Barak 8, detects and shoots down incoming anti-ship missiles (ASMs) at ranges out to 70 kilometres. Sea-skimming, hard-to-detect ASMs like the Harpoon and Exocet, which can be launched from aircraft, surface warships or submarines, are one of the greatest hazards a surface warship faces. The LR-SAM provides effective protection against the newest generation of these anti-ship missiles. (READ MORE)