14 Points To Know About The Latest-In-Development Barak-8 Missile

India and Israel jointly developed most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile (LR-SAM) Barak-8. It was successfully test fired off the Odisha coast late this September. The test firing of Barak-8 missile will open doors for much more such missiles to join the Indian arsenal.

With this test firing, it seems that the test firing of Barak-8 is a frequent process as of now. Earlier, this year Barak-8 was successfully test-fired twice on 30th June and once on July 1. Here is all you need to know about this most technologically advanced missile:

1. Barak-8 (Lightning-8 in Hebrew) is a long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, developed jointly by Israel and India.
2. The missile was successfully launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch pad at Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha.
3. The advanced missile has been designed and developed by the DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries and Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure.
4. It is 4.5-meter long and weighs around 3 tons can carry a payload of 70 kilograms. It has a speed of Mach 2.
5. It has the capacity to identify and neutralize various forms of aerial threats such as rockets, UAVs, planes, helicopters in a single flight.
6. Barak-8 missile’s most technologically advanced aspect is its ability to intercept missiles aimed at sea-bound vessels.
7. The system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile.
8. These missiles would be inducted in all the three services after trials were completed.
9. Many Indian industries like BEL, L&T, BDL, and TATA group of companies besides other private industries have contributed to the development of a number of subsystems which have been put into use in this flight test.
10. The Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) has the ability to hit targets within radii of 70 km to 90 km.
11. It is designed to defend against any airborne threat, apart from aircraft and helicopters, and can also intercept supersonic aircraft and missiles.
12. The radar system provides 360-degree coverage and the missile can take down an incoming missile as close as 500 meters away from a ship.
13. Each Barak system, which includes missile container, radar, computers, and installation, costs about $24 million.
14. President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful launch.