India likely to revive mega Israel missile deal

NEW DELHI: The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive a $500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israel’s state-owned defence contractor Rafael, military chief Bipin Rawat said Friday, reports AFP

India recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the country this week.

Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with premier Narendra Modi’s pet ‘Make in India’ initiative.

“They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results,” Rawat said.

“That is what led to retracting of the RFP (request for proposal).” Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit India’s operational capabilities in the interim.

“So how do we bridge the gap between now and 2022? It’s through the Spike.

 

India likely to revive mega Israel missile deal

NEW DELHI: The Indian army and the government are discussing ways to revive a $500 million order to buy Spike anti-tank guided missiles from Israels state-owned defence contractor Rafael, military chief Bipin Rawat said Friday, reports AFP India recently called off the deal to procure 8,000 missiles, souring the build up to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus visit to the country this week. Rawat said the deal was scrapped after the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) offered to manufacture similar missiles in line with premier Narendra Modis pet Make in India initiative. They (DRDO) said... why you are going for a missile that we are capable of manufacturing and can give you better results, Rawat said. That is what led to retracting of the RFP (request for proposal). Rawat said the DRDO missiles were yet to be tested and would not be ready till 2022, which could hit Indias operational capabilities in the interim. So how do we bridge the gap between now and 2022? Its through the Spike.