State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries signs an additional contract worth $777 million to supply the Barak 8, LRSAM air and missile defense systems on 7 Indian navy ships.

By Reuters

State-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has won an additional $777 million contract to supply LRSAM air and missile defense systems to seven ships in the Indian navy, the company said on Wednesday.

The contract is with India’s state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL), which is the main contractor in the project, IAI said.The LRSAM, part of the Barak 8 family, is an air and missile defense system used by Israel’s navy as well as India’s navy, air and land forces.

Indian Naval warships docked at Haifa port – Photo- Anna Ahronheim

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’s and India’s leaders have pledged to deepen ties and the countries 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 defense 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.

Barak 8 missile system – Photo: IAI

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

View original Ynet publication at:
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5378607,00.html