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:
- Barak-8 (Lightning-8 in Hebrew) is a long-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile, developed jointly by Israel and India.
- The missile was successfully launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) launch pad at Chandipur in Balasore district of Odisha.
- 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.
- 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.
- It has the capacity to identify and neutralize various forms of aerial threats such as rockets, UAVs, planes, helicopters in a single flight.
- Barak-8 missile’s most technologically advanced aspect is its ability to intercept missiles aimed at sea-bound vessels.
- The system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile.
- These missiles would be inducted in all the three services after trials were completed.
- 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.
- The Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) has the ability to hit targets within radii of 70 km to 90 km.
- It is designed to defend against any airborne threat, apart from aircraft and helicopters, and can also intercept supersonic aircraft and missiles.
- 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.
- Each Barak system, which includes missile container, radar, computers, and installation, costs about $24 million.
- President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful launch.
