Content area
Full Text
Replying to a query in the Rajya Sabha on 26 July 2016 regarding upgrade of the Barak missile system, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar gave a status report on two similar systems: the Long Range Surface to Air Missile (LR-SAM) and the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MR-SAM), being jointly developed and produced by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). While the Rs 2,606.02 crore contract for the Naval version, designated LR-SAM, was signed on 27 January 2006, the contract for the land based MR-SAM, worth Rs 10,075.68 crore, was inked on 27 February 2009. Both systems are capable of detecting an incoming aerial threat at a distance of over 100 km and have a destruction range of 70 km.
Testing and Trials
While successful operational flight trials for the LR-SAM aboard the destroyer INS Kolkata were conducted on 29 December 2015, three consecutive flight trials for the MR-SAM have been conducted on 30 June and 1 July 2016, against a target drone at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur. These trials were clearly seen as significant, with the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, conveying a congratulatory message to Dr S Christopher, Secretary and Director...