India has chosen to purchase Israel’s Spike anti-tank missiles, made by Rafael, after rejecting a competing offer for US Lockheed Martin’s Javelin missiles, according to a Reuters report.
India will buy 8000 missiles and 300 launchers from Israel.
Faced with attacks from Pakistan and tension with China, India wants to the weapon’s procurement deal to go through fast.
Spike is an Israeli fourth generation portable fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile. The Spike missile works by locking onto its target before launching. Some variations allow for the operator to make in-course corrections, and even choose new targets mid-flight.
The missile uses a double warhead, the first to detonate any explosive reactive armor and the second to destroy and penetrate the underlying armor.
India is currently the world’s largest arms buyer, so hopefully, Israel will see many more deals in the future.