New Delhi — Indo-Israeli ties are expected to get another boost as the Indian Naval chief Admiral N.K.Verma is currently in Tel Aviv for a four day visit. Admiral Verma will be holding talks with Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak, chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Navy chief Eliezer Marom. The nature of defence talks will revolve around joint development projects including the potential sale of the jointly manufactured defence equipments to other countries.
India and Israel have been building up strong military ties and the current focus will be to collaborate on research and development (R&D). The areas where both countries could collaborate include Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), submarine based cruise missile, precision-guided munitions (PGMs) and third-generation night-vision devices amongst others.
According to sources, the growing Indo-Israeli cooperation in crucial military equipment can be seen in the upcoming $2.2 billion deal between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israeli Aircraft industries (IAI) to develop a MR-SAM (medium-range surface-to-air missile), capable of detecting and destroying hostile aircraft at a range of about 70 kilometres.
The second test of the Barak-2 missile is scheduled to be held in India later this year. The Barak-2 MR-SAM will equip the three Project 15 Guided Missile Destroyers. The Barak-2 MR-SAM will equip Naval Ships while the Barak-2 LR-SAM will be shore based for use by the Indian Air Force. The Barak-2 LR-SAM version will have a longer range of 120 Kilometres in comparison to the Barak MR-SAM, which has a range of about 70 kilometres.
India is Israel’s single largest importer of its defence equipment constituting about 50 per cent of Israel’s defence exports and about 30 per cent of India’s imports. The defence business between the two countries has been prominent as Israel has already supplied Barak missiles to the Indian Navy, night fighting devices to the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force and improved the radar network by providing advanced electronic warfare systems and information technology. Phalcon airborne early warning radar systems (AWACS) supplied by Israel as part of a $1.1 billion deal has significantly augmented India’s reconnaissance capabilities.
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