Defence firm Israel Aerospace Industries has won an additional $777-million (over Rs 5,600 crore) contract to supply Barak 8 LR-SAM air and missile defence systems to seven ships of the Indian Navy, the company said on Wednesday. The state-owned firm said the contract is with Bharat Electronics Limited, which is the main contractor in the project.
The Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile system is an operational Air and Missile Defence system that Israel’s navy, and India’s navy, air and land forces use. The system provides aerial and point defence against a range of threats to the marine arena from air, sea or land, the company said. The system also integrates advanced state-of-the-art systems.
The missile has been jointly developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Israeli defence technology company Rafael, Israel Aerospace Industries’ Elta Group, and local industries in Israel and India. With the latest deal, the sales of the Barak 8 over the past few years total over $6 billion (more than Rs 43,000 crore), the Israel Aerospace Industries said.
“IAI’s partnership with India dates many years back and has culminated in joint system development and production,” Israel Aerospace Industries President Nimrod Sheffer said. “India is a major market for IAI and we plan to protest and reinforce our positioning in India, also in view of increasing competition. For its part, IAI management continually refreshes its business strategy while preserving the core capability and growth engines, of which the Barak 8 is an example.”
Last year, Israel received its largest defence contract, worth $2 billion (more than Rs 14,600 crore), from India to supply the Indian Army and Navy with missile defence systems, PTI reported. It was followed by another $630 million (approximately Rs 4,600 crore) contract to supply Barak 8 surface to air missile system for four ships of the Indian Navy in collaboration with the Bharat Electronics Limited.
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