Israel, India Announce Co-Operative Anti-Missile System

Israel and India will collaborate on a new, integrated anti-missile system to be deployed against Chinese nuclear and conventional missiles, reports Defense News.

The co-operative effort – of which details are to be finalized over the next six months – marks another step in an ever closer relationship between the two countries. Joint efforts over agricultural technology, intelligence, and even space-based initiatives have seen the two nations moving closer together over the past decade.

The anti-missile system is set to incorporate India’s Prithvi air defense technology and the land-transportable radar under development by Israel Aircraft Industries. “The proposed missile defense program will be a network of air defense systems and radars from India and Israel,” a senior official from the Israeli defense firm Rafael said at an industry event in New Delhi. 

The Algemeiner reports: “India is the largest customer of Israeli military equipment and that Israel is the second-largest partner to India after Russia. As of 2009, the military business between the two nations was worth around $9 billion, up from just $200 million in 2001.”