The Barak-8 is a long-range surface-to-air missile system that is still emerging as a cornerstone in modern naval defense, jointly developed by Israel IAX and India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation-DRDO. It is an advanced missile system with the capability to combat a range of airborne threats, including but not limited to assault aircraft, UAVs, and incoming anti-ship missiles.
This cooperation began to take off when, in January 2006, it signed a $350-million deal with India to co-develop the Barak-8 system for the Indian Navy. In April 2009, Israel signed a contract worth $1.1 billion to deliver an upgraded version of the Barak-8 air defense system to India, with deliveries expected to be completed by 2017.
In developing Barak-8, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, along with a subsidiary of IAI Elta Systems played an important role. Rafael provided the missile interceptors for the operation, while Elta was responsible for the system’s radar. The first test of the missile Barak-8 took place in May 2010 in Israel, while further tests are to be held both in Israel and India.
The Barak-8 system will be installed on the Indian Navy’s Kolkata Class guided-missile destroyers and the first frigate is expected to enter service by 2013. In all, four Project 15B Kolkata Class destroyers will be inducted with ER-SAM missiles possessing a strike range of 100km.
The compact design of the Barak-8 missile system would ensure that the armament is fitted onto existing warships as well as on new warships. It had a dual-pulse rocket motor, active radar seeker, and a two-way data link that could intercept supersonic sea-skimming anti-ship missiles and high-altitude targets. The missile would be capable of dealing with multiple targets due to the high-performance warhead and an effective hit-to-kill mechanism.
The MF-STAR radar is part of the system and provides mid-course guidance updates with 360° coverage. Multibeam, pulse Doppler, and electronic counter-countermeasures are some of the techniques it uses in detecting fast-moving and low-RCS targets in complex environments.
A dual-pulse rocket motor, sourced from the Defence Research and Development Organisation, enables a high degree of maneuverability at the range of target interception by the Barak-8 missile. The missile can fly at a speed of Mach 2 for a maximum range of 70km.
This was not the first big deal regarding the Barak-8 system that Israel Aerospace Industries has won in recent years. In October 2018, IAI won an order worth US$777mn for the Barak-8 air defense system for the Indian Navy, while in May 2017, it received an order for the system worth US$630mn. The system is deployed by the naval, air, and land forces of both Israel and India and is designed to protect against an array of aerial platforms, including combat jets, helicopters, unmanned air vehicles, and ballistic missiles.
The Barak-8 system worked in the field. An Azerbaijani military-operated Israeli-made Barak-8 missile defense system successfully intercepted an Armenia-launched Russian-made Iskander ballistic missile during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
As for Israel, it remains among the leading arms manufacturers; a large share of its weapon supplies has gone to the region of Asia Pacific. Though Russia still is considered India’s largest arms supplier, especially in recent times, India has tried to diversify its sources, with major purchases from both Israel and the United States.