India’s Army May Purchase Israeli Anti-Tank Missiles

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The Israeli-built Spike anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is back on the Indian Army’s acquisition agenda. The potential purchase of the missile arose during a Nov. 11 meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC), which likely will take up the issue again when it meets later this month.

IHLS – Israel Homeland Security

The purchase of the Spike was put on hold in April as it was a single-vendor procurement from Israeli company Rafael. But the Indian Army is in a hurry to get advanced ATGMs.

The renewed interest in the Spike is unlikely to affect a U.S. proposal to jointly produce the Javelin ATGM with India, the Defense Ministry source said, because the Army needs more than 20,000 advanced ATGMs. The Spike, if purchased, will be vehicle-mounted, the source said, while the Javelin will be man-portable.