Israeli-Indian aerial defence system passes first test
Mon Nov 10, 2014 8:20pm IST
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An aerial defence system developed jointly by Israel and India passed its first trial simulating combat conditions on Monday, state-owned manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said.
The Barak 8 system is designed to shoot down incoming aircraft or missiles from land or sea platforms. Defence industry sources have said the value of the project is $1.4 billion and highlights burgeoning Israeli-Indian defence ties.
The Indian partner in the project signed in 2006, the government Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), confirmed the successful test in Israel of Barak 8's Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM).
An Indian government statement said that a scientific adviser to its Defence Ministry, Avinash Chander, witnessed the test and described it as "a milestone in the cooperation between two countries in developing advanced weapon systems".
The Israeli and Indian militaries both plan to use Barak 8 once it becomes operational within months, IAI said. Company official Boaz Levi told reporters that Barak 8 had been sold to other foreign clients, which he declined to name.
"The system has been developed over a number of years through fruitful and good cooperation, and today we executed a complete test in operational mode in which all the components, both maritime and land, were tested," Levi said.
"The (missile) completely destroyed the simulation target."
In Israel, IAI cooperated with state-owned Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd on developing the missile and with its own subsidiary, ELTA Systems Ltd, on the radar and electronics.
(Reporting by Dan Williams and Ori Lewis and Frank Jack Daniel in New Delhi; Editing by Steven Scheer and Dominic Evans)
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