IAI receives $777 million contract from Indian navy for Barak 8 systems

Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Israel Aerospace Industries announced Wednesday it has received a $777 million contract to supply long range surface-to-air missile defense systems for seven ships in the Indian navy.

Indian state-owned company Bharat Electronics Limited inked the deal with IAI.

"India is a major market for IAI and we plan to protest and reinforce our positioning in India, also in view of increasing competition," Nimrod Sheffer, CEO and president at IAI, said in a press release. "For its part, IAI management continually refreshes its business strategy while preserving the core capability and growth engines, of which the Barak-8 is an example".

The LRSAM system belongs to the Barak-8 family of air missile defense systems, which the Israeli navy uses on its vessels. The system includes a digital radar, command and control, launchers and interceptors with modern RF seekers. It delivers broad aerial and point defense against threats from the air, sea or land.

India's DRDO Defense Research and Development Organization developed the Barak-8 AMD system in collaboration with IAI, Israel's ministry of defense, each country's naval forces and local companies in India.

According to the IAI, Barak-8 sales have climbed to more than $6 billion.

This latest deal comes a year after IAI signed a $2 billion to supply India's army and navy with missile defense systems, followed by a $630 million contract to provide Barak-8 surface-to-air missile systems to four Indian navy ships.