Israel to bag over $600mn in military deal with India

The file photo shows Barak 8 aerial defense system. (Photo by IAI)

The Israeli regime has inked an arms deal worth $630 million with India to provide the Indian Navy with an advanced long-range surface-to-air missile system.

According to a statement released by the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) on Sunday, the Israeli company will provide the Indian state-owned aerospace and defense company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) with the naval version of the aerial defense system Barak 8, which means "lightning" in Hebrew, to be installed aboard four Indian Navy ships.

It added that the contract of Barak 8, technically known as LR-SAM system, included the procurement of radar, missiles, and a command and control board for the missile system.

The system is said to eliminate any type of airborne threat, including aircraft, choppers, anti-ship missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), cruise missiles and warplanes. Last week, the Indian Navy successfully tested the system aboard one of its ships.

"The new contract adds to other deals signed in the last decade by IAI with India's defense forces, reinforcing IAI's global leadership position in air and missile defense systems," the military exporting giant said in the statement.

The Sunday deal came a month after the IAI announced that it had struck a mega arms deal with New Delhi worth nearly $2 billion to provide India's army and navy with a missile defense system, including medium-range surface-to-air missiles, launchers, communications and control technology. The company described it then as the "largest" military deal Israel had ever signed.

New Delhi and Tel Aviv signed an agreement back in February 2015 to jointly develop the missile system for the Indian army.

Israel has been supplying India with various weapons systems, missiles and drones over the past few years, making India one of Israel’s largest buyers of military hardware.