Indian Navy gets first surface-to-air missile jointly developed with Israel

NEW DELHI - The first Indian produced Long Range Surface to Air missile by Israel Aerospace Industries has been given to the Indian Navy, according to Jerusalem Post.

The delivery was made by Indian Minister of Defense Arun Jaitley earlier this week after the missile was presented to him by IAI and Indian business officials in Hyderabad.

The LRSAM, or Barak-8 naval air defense system, is jointly developed by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in close collaboration with Israel's Israel Aircraft Industry (IAI).

The production lines integrated Israeli-made and Indian-made assemblies for the weapon.

IAI said the missile features advanced phased-array radar and command-and-control system, launchers and missiles with advanced RF seekers for protection against a variety of aerial, naval and airborne threats.

The LRSAM is operational with the Indian air force, Indian navy and Israel Defense Forces.

India is Israel's top destination for arms exports, buying 41 per cent of export between 2012 and 2016, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent global conflict and arms-research institute.

Israel is India's third-largest source of arms, with a 7.2 per cent share of imports between 2012 and 2016, next to the US (14 per cent) and Russia (68 per cent).