Barak Missiles, Drones, Explosives And More: Is India Now Overly Dependent On Israel? | World News

New Delhi: During Operation Sindoor (the military offensive against Pakistan last year), Israel emerged as India’s most loyal partner. Its drones played a key role in destroying Pakistan’s HQ-9B radar in Lahore.

Beyond drones, New Delhi and Tel Aviv have signed numerous defense agreements covering disruptive missiles, air defense systems and precision strike weapons. India is now preparing to purchase Air LORA and Ice Breaker missiles, which are extremely difficult to intercept with conventional air defense systems.

This has raised questions about whether India, which has historically been dependent on Russian weapons, has now become overly dependent on Israel.

Defense experts have expressed concern over India’s increasing dependence on Israeli missile technology. While developing missiles often takes decades of sustained effort, India’s own history disproves the idea that success is impossible. The country has demonstrated strong capabilities in missile development, but increasing dependence on foreign systems is concerning.

India’s indigenous missile capabilities are strong. The country can develop missile systems within two to two and a half years, thanks to the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program launched in its early years. This program aims to produce missiles in every category locally and reduce foreign dependency. As a result, systems like Agni, Prithvi and Akash have become quite successful.

Current and proposed India-Israel deals include Barak-8/MR-SAM systems for the Army, Navy and Air Force, SPICE precision-guided bomb kits, Air LORA standoff missiles, Derby/I-Derby air-to-air missiles, Spike anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and various UAV and stray munitions platforms.

When India purchased the Barak air defense system from Israel in the 2000s, it filled an operational gap and was an extremely logical choice. However, over time, the negative side of foreign dependence emerged.

As the Barak system approaches the end of its operational life, India does not have an indigenous missile system in the same category. This forced the Indian military to once again look for foreign surface-to-air missiles. Domestic solutions are only available in short-range segments or as limited-range systems such as Akash and VL-SRS.

Programs like Trishul and MICA contributed to this trust as it weakened over time.

One difficulty with foreign weapons is that initial purchases are often limited. When stock is depleted, restoring operational capacity becomes difficult and takes time. Another important issue is the supply chain control implemented by Israel. Long-term conflicts could delay restocking and leave Indian planners faced with complex strategic decisions.

To address these concerns, Israel has proposed local production in India for the last few months. While this appears to support ‘Make in India’, most of the transferred production is focused on low-cost, high-volume components rather than critical subsystems. Important technologies and vital components are under Israeli control.

Systems such as Air LORA, Ice Breaker, Rox, SPICE, Wind-Demon, Derby, SkyScepter, Spike ATGMs and various UAV platforms follow this model. Indian private companies are gaining assembly experience but are unable to obtain intellectual property rights or access critical technologies, hindering true self-reliance.