Navy successfully launches long-range air defence missile Barak NG

One of India’s most ambitious and costly efforts to develop a surface-to-air missile system, in collaboration with Israel, achieved a significant milestone over the last two days with its successful firings from an Indian Naval warship.

The Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LRSAM) -- land version is called MRSAM (medium range SAM) -- is a joint development project between India and Israel and is said to be a very advanced SAM that can track and shoot down incoming missiles and other flying objects with very high level of accuracy. While LRSAM is for navy, the air force has already an order for MRSAM and the army variant has been recently approved.

Also called Barak NG (next generation), the LRSAM can intercept aerial targets up to a range of 80 km. It being co-developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from India and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) of Israel, and will be manufactured by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).

“The firing was undertaken on the Western Seaboard by INS Kolkata, wherein the missile successfully intercepted an aerial target at extended ranges,” the Indian Navy said in a statement on Wednesday.

Adding a quantum jump in its Air Defence Capability, INS Kolkata, Indian Navy’s state of art, indigenous stealth destroyer, successfully test-fired the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM). Two missiles were fired on 29th and 30th of December on high speed targets, during naval exercises being undertaken in the Arabian Sea. Photo Courtesy: Ministry of Defence

Apart from the missile, the system includes a Multi-Functional Surveillance and Threat Alert Radar (MF STAR) for detection, tracking and guidance of the missile, the statement added.

The missile was successfully test fired for the first time against a flying target from an Israeli warship in November 2014. The project, however, is running behind schedule. It was approved in 2005 with an initial funding of Rs 2,606 crore and was to be inducted in 2011 but has been delayed due to technical difficulties.

The Navy intends to have LR-SAM as the standard fitment on all its future warships and also retrofit existing frontline ships in due course.

While the LR-SAM will form the first tier of the multi-layered air defence at long ranges, the shorter ranges are handled by Barak-I missiles with range of around 10 km and is currently operational on all frontline naval assets including the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

The Navy plans to replace the Barak-I with a new Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SR-SAM), Maitri, to be jointly developed by DRDO with MBDA of France. The approval for this has been accorded by defence ministry in March this year under which nine SR-SAMs with 40 missiles each are to be initially developed.

The Air Force MR-SAM project worth Rs 10,076 crore, almost a replicate of LRSAM but for land based operations, was sanctioned in February 2009 to replace the Pichora systems in service. However the missile is now expected to be inducted in 2017, three years behind schedule. An Army version of the MR-SAM for one regiment worth about Rs. 9,000 crore was agreed upon between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his Israeli counterpart Moshe Ya'alon during his visit to India in February. However, given the requirement this number is expected to go up.