Govt nod for Rs 4K cr Israeli surface-to-air missile system

NEW DELHI: Army���s long-pending case for new air defence weapons to protect its tanks and troops as well as ������vital areas and installations������ from aerial threats has finally got a boost, with the the defence ministry giving the green signal for the various projects.

With the indigenous Akash and Trishul air defence projects not meeting its ������user-requirements������, the Army for instance is now on course to procure three regiments of quick-reaction surface-to-air missile (QR-SAM) systems from Israel for around Rs 4,000 crore.

The Defence Acquisitions Council, chaired by defence minister A K Antony, discussed the entire matter on Monday. Though there was no official word, sources said the Israeli SpyDer QR-SAM systems had been selected for the project. IAF, incidentally, is already well on its way to induct 18 SpyDer systems, at a cost over Rs 1,800 crore, to plug gaps in its own air defence capabilities.

The projects were in a limbo for quite some time now, with one of the main reasons being the naming of Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael in the Rs 1,160-crore Barak-I deal kickbacks case by the CBI.

The government, however, was reluctant to blacklist these Israeli armament firms because it held that it would prove ������counter-productive������ since there were several ������crucial������ defence projects underway with them.