India to restart talks to acquire Israeli Spike anti-tank missiles.

The Defense ministry will negotiate to buy at least 3,000 Spike anti-tank missiles manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems through a government-to-government (G2G) route. This will meet the army’s urgent requirements and fill the gap before the indigenous Nag anti-tank missile system is inducted.

India intends to buy 3,000 Spike fire-and-forget anti-tank missiles (Picture source: Rafael Advanced Systems)

The Spike is an advanced fire-and-forget portable anti-tank missile first issued in the 1980s. It is designed to hit tanks and aircraft 4km away, or 25km for no-line-of-sight targets that the missile seek out with its heat-tracking system.

Last January Rafael Advanced Systems received an official statement from the Indian Ministry of Defense on the cancellation of the Spike $900 million deal oder. 8,000 missiles and more than 300 launchers were at stake. The Defense ministry hopes to buy the Israeli missile at a cheaper price as the technical transfer clause is now removed. It would be manufactured under the Make in India rubric by Kalyani Strategic System-Rafael JV in Hyderabad for global exports.

The Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), which is developing the Nag, has no objection to the government’s plans to buy the Israeli missile so long as the tech transfer term is not applied. The Nag’s heat-seeker guidance system is at a test stage and the missile’s commercial production is likely to take some time. The third-generation Nag with a range of 4km was tested successfully last September by the DRDO. It will be manufactured under the Make in India rubric by Kalyani Strategic System-Rafael JV in Hyderabad for global exports.

India and Israel are set to sign an inter-government agreement once the price of the Spike is finalized by the negotiating committee under the country’s director general (acquisition) and manufacturer Rafael Systems. The price will dictate how many missiles and launchers India will buy, but the officials said the government could settle for 3,000 Spikes to meet the army’s requirements. “The cancelled order was for 3,000 missiles with another 5,000 from the Hyderabad factory. The order now should be around 3,000 Spikes, with the army having the option to purchase the missiles from the joint company in Hyderabad,” an official said.