Israel May Help India Deploy Laser Guided Anti-Tank Missiles
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India went to Russia to get the needed help to develop a laser guided missile for defense and homeland security missions. This effort failed, and now India may try and get Israeli help.
A dispute with Russia over technology transfer for the Invar anti-tank missile has prompted India’s Bharat Dynamics Ltd. (BDL) to contact domestic companies to help develop the missile’s critical guidance electronics.
The Russians refused to give India the technology for the guidance system for the missile, which will be fired from India’s Russian-made T-90 tanks, despite agreeing to the transfer for licensed production of the missiles, according to a BDL official.
The Indian government approved an Army proposal in October 2012 to acquire 20,000 Invar missiles, but the contract had to wait until August because the government insisted on technology transfer. The Russians agreed to grant a license for production of the missile and the transfer of technology in August, when a U.S. $470 million contract was signed, the BDL official said. State-owned BDL, which will manufacture the Invar missiles, has not been given the key technology for the missile’s laser beam-riding guidance system, the official said.
iHLS – Israel Homeland Security
According to Defense News BDL has decided to approach domestic industry to develop the critical guidance electronics for the Invar. Domestic private sector companies, including Larsen & Toubro, Tata Power SED and Godrej, will be asked to collaborate with BDL to develop the laser beam-riding guidance system.
Fired from the 125mm gun of the T-90 tank, the missile is guided along a laser beam that can be controlled by the tank gunner. BDL has been manufacturing the Invar under technical collaboration with Russia’s Rosoboronexport, but it wants the technology for the laser guidance.
Israel aerospace industries (IAI) has developed a similar weapon system, the LAser Homing Attack Missile, or LAHAT. It is an advanced missile developed and manufactured by the MBT Division of IAI, a light weight missile suitable for precision attack missions.
The gun or canister launched missile can be fired from a range of platforms such as armored vehicles, tanks and helicopters. The missile is effectively used in urban areas requiring a low collateral damage solution. It can hit both stationed and moving targets while avoiding the air defense of hostile forces.
