During this week, India signed for a follow-up agreement worth $50 million with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The Israeli manufacturer entered into contracts with the Indian Navy and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL). This agreement stipulates the provision of complementary Naval MRSAM (Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile) systems as well as maintenance services for several of their sub-systems.

This contrat follows the agreement previously signed by IAI and the Indian Navy last January. “Only recently we have successfully completed a multi-system trial in India that demonstrated the advanced technological centralized management capabilities of the air defense system to the utmost satisfaction of our Indian partners” reminded Boaz Levi, IAI’s Executive Vice President and General Manager of Systems, Missiles & Space Group, referring to an interception test lead aboard INS Chennai. He added: “This contract is a breakthrough as it advances us from system development and delivery to looking after the operational needs of our customers.”

The MRSAM family is an operational air-defense system (ADS) used by Israel's navy as well as by India’s naval, air and ground forces. The ADS has been developed by IAI in collaboration with Israel's Ministry of defense, India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), IAI’s ELTA group, RAFAEL and additional industries in India and Israel. MRSAM comprises several systems, including a digital radar, command and control, launchers, and interceptors with homing seekers.