"India Defence": Israel and India to sign new missile development agreement
The two countries are to develop an air defense system in a contract worth an estimated $300 million over four years.
Ran Dagoni, Washington 10 Jul 07 11:41
"India Defence" reports that India and Israel have agreed to expand their already considerable missile development cooperation with an even longer-range version of their extended-range Barak ship defense system, this time for the Indian Air Force. "India Defence" said that sources declined to provide projected program costs, but estimated the effort would take about four years and a minimum of $300 million to develop.
The agreement will deepen Israel and India's cooperation on missile development, under which the two countries are currently developing an improved version of the vertically launched Barak-8, or BarakNG (New Generation) missile. The land-based version will reportedly have an even longer range than the Barak 8, reaching up to 150 kilometers instead of the current 70. The agreement will provide a final endorsement of the memorandum of understanding that Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) signed in June with Indian defense research authorities.
"We've agreed to extend our ongoing BarakNG project with a longer-range missile capable of performing additional missions and meeting a larger array of threats," one Israeli source said in early July, noting that India's fiscal year ends in March 2008. "We're all looking to sign a contract by the end of the fiscal year."
The program, he said, is "a natural extension" of the approximately $480 million, five-year contract concluded in early 2006 between the Indian Defence Research Development Organization (DRDO) and IAI.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 10, 2007
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