The defence establishment has a reason to rejoice. The Indo-Israeli Barak-8 LR-SAM missile test-firing (on 10th of November) was a roaring success. This interceptor missile was flight-tested against a moving target (possibly, a Israeli Jericho series missile) & successfully neutralized it. The test was carried out in the presence of Indian officials including DRDO chief Dr.Avinash Chander. According to 'Jerusalem Post' this is the first ever 'operational test firing' of the missile. Its shorter-ranged predecessor variant Barak-1 missiles are in active service with the Indian Navy & have been incorporated in at least 14 Navy ships including flagship INS Viraat, all Shivalik-class frigates & Delhi-class destroyers (shown in image below).
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| Barak-1 air defence battery on-board INS Mysore |
Travelling back in time, the Rs.2606 crore deal to co-develop (50:50) a long-range interceptor missile was signed way back in 2007 between governments of India & Israel after a breath-taking 17 months of tough negotiations. In 2009 the then Indian Army chief Gen.Deepak Kapoor signed a USD 1.1 billion deal to supply Barak-8 air defence systems to India by 2017. These missiles will be incorporated in INS Vikramaditya, INS Vikrant (IAC-1), Kolkata-class destroyers. According to SIPRI reports, Israel has already delivered 75 Barak-8 missiles to Azerbaijan. Eventhough the Barak-1 deal was mired in controversies regarding kickbacks, the Defence Acquisition Council headed by AK Antony cleared second order of 262 Barak-1 missiles at a cost of Rs.880 crores in December 2013.
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