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India & Israel Introducing MR-SAM

15-Jul-2007 19:03 EDT

Related Stories: Asia - India, Contracts - Intent, Middle East - Israel, Missiles - Surface-Air, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia, Policy - Procurement, Transformation

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Barak launch
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In February 2006, “Israel, India to Cooperate on $350M Long-Range Barak SAM Project” covered a joint Indian-Israeli development agreement to create a new medium shipborne air defense missile, based on the Barak system in service with both navies. In October 2006, “India to Buy Israeli “SPYDER” Mobile Air Defense System” covered India’s move to buy mobile, short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems for its army, based on the Python and Derby missiles in service with its air force and naval aircraft.

MR-SAM is an Rs 10,000 crore (almost $2.5 billion) project to develop a medium range SAM for use with India’s land forces. Despite a development timeline measured in decades, India’s indigenous “Akash” program remains in the test stage, and has not even begun user trials. By leveraging a foreign partnership as it did with the PJ-10 BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, India hopes to break the logjam and enjoy a similar level of success. With the approval of the MR-SAM joint venture, India is moving to address its critical air defense weaknesses and upgrade “protection of vital and strategic ground assets and area air defence”...

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SA-3
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The DRDO Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will be the ‘prime developer’ for the project which will have a Rs 2,300 crore indigenous component. Israel Aerospace Industries will be the key partner, and will contribute most of the applicable technology, just as Russia did for the BrahMos by offering its SS-N-26 Oniks missile as the base platform. As of its approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security in July 2007, MR-SAM surpasses BrahMos, and may be the largest joint defense development project ever undertaken between India and any other country.

The 4-5 year project aims to provide India’s military with 9 advanced air defence squadrons, each with 2 MR-SAM firing units. Each unit, in turn, would consist of a command and control center, an acquisition radar, a guidance radar, and 3 launchers with eight missiles each. The total would therefore be 10 C2 centers, 18 acquisition radars, 18 guidance radars, and 54 launchers armed with 432 missiles ready to fire.

India Defence reports that IAI and its Israeli partners have agreed to transfer all relevant technologies and manufacturing capabilities to India. Indian sources estimate a 4-year, $300 million System Design & Development phase to develop unique system elements and an initial tranche of the land-based missiles.

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SA-8
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The Times of India adds that:

“The project is crucial because, as highlighted by TOI earlier, there are still “many gaping holes” in India’s radar network and the armed forces only have near-obsolete air defence units like Russian Pechora [DID: upgraded SA-3], OSA-AK [DID: SA-8B, scheduled for interim upgrades], and Igla [DID: SA-16 shoulder-fired] missile systems.

Sources said the MR-SAM project is actually an extension of the ongoing DRDO-Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) project, launched in January 2006 at a cost of $480 million, to develop a supersonic 60-km Barak-NG (new-generation) missile defence system for Navy.”

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Barak Components
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Barak is a supersonic, vertically-launched short range air defense system. It is currently in service with at least India, Israel, Singapore, and Venezuela, and possibly several other countries as well. India has bought over $300 million worth of these missiles as a substitute for the indigenous but long-delayed Trishul (“Trident”) missile project, and Barak systems now equip many of the ships in India’s Navy. The missile’s fast response time, effectiveness against missile threats, and compact size are considerable assets, but they are currently offset somewhat by a range of only 10 km/ 6 miles or so. The Navy’s Barak-NG project aimed to give the missiles a much longer reach, with the intention of making it India’s primary naval SAM.

India Defence and the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz also reported that MR-SAM would be an extension of work done on the Barak-NG deal, but that is not yet certain. The Indian Express quotes DRDO Chief M Natarajan as saying that: “It is still under discussion. We cannot talk more about it…” Most reports, however, place the desired capabilities at 70 km/ 42 mile range (though India Defence says 150 km/ 90 miles) effective range, with 360 degree coverage and the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously.

June 2007 saw the formal signing of a memorandum of agreement between Indian defense research authorities and prime contractor Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). A formal add-on development contract is expected by early 2008.

Israel has risen to become one of India’s largest defense industry partners, and may be on its way to surpassing Russia as India’s largest partner.

Updates & Key Events

Nov 9/08: An India Times article clarifies, noting that the current UPA government has cleared the MR-SAM development project to go ahead, despite the political/legal storm around the original Barak missile deal.

Oct 13/08: Reports from India indicate that the government has effectively downgraded IAI and RAFAEL’s status as vendors, suspending additional Barak missile purchases, and adding additional high-level approval steps for any new or existing deal involving either company. The moves are a response to ongoing CBI investigations, involving allegations that bribery was used to secure the original Barak ship defense missile deal in 1999-2000. Read “India Downgrades Vendor Status of IAI and RAFAEL” for more.

Aug 22/07: In a written Parliamentary response, Defence Minister Shri AK Antony offers a program update:

“The government has not decided on a joint venture with Israel for the production of missiles. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has earlier entered into a contract with M/s. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel to jointly develop a Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) system for the Indian and Israeli Navy in January 2006.”

Additional Readings & Sources

  • Israeli Weapons – Barak. Also notes that that India’s orders of the Barak missile to date have totaled at least $360 million.
  • Wikipedia – SA-3. The S-125 Pechora is a variant. See also this DID article, which explains how a Serbian SA-3 battery survived NATO’s aerial attacks and shot down an F-117 stealth fighter in 1999.