Israel Aerospace wins $777 mn Indian missile defence contract

IAI said it has been awarded an additional, $777-million mega- contract for supply of LRSAM air and missile defence systems (the marine version of the AMD system Barak 8) for seven ships of the Indian Navy. IAI signed the contract with India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), which is the main contractor in the project.

The LRSAM, part of the Barak 8 family, is an air and missile defence system used by Israel’s navy as well as India’s navy, air and land forces.

With this deal, sales of the Barak 8 over the past few years total over $6 billion, IAI said.

“IAI’s partnership with India dates many years back and has culminated in joint system development and production,” IAI chief executive officer Nimrod Sheffer said. “India is a major market for IAI and we plan to ... reinforce our positioning in India, also in view of increasing competition.”

Israel and India are  expanding and deepening ties and have been increasing cooperation in fields like agriculture and advanced technologies. Israel is also emerging as one of India’s biggest suppliers of weapons, alongside the United States and long-term partner Russia.

Last year, IAI struck a deal worth almost $2 billion to supply India’s army and navy with missile defence systems. This was followed by a $630 million contract with BEL to supply Barak 8 surface-to-air missile systems for four ships in the Indian navy.

The Barak 8 was developed by IAI in collaboration with Israel’s Defence Ministry, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, the navies of both countries, Israel’s Rafael and local industries in India and Israel.