RAFAEL presented a $100 M contract to KRAS (Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems India) for the manufacturing of 1,000 BARAK 8/ MRSAM missile kits to be supplied to BDL via IAI for further integration purposes.

Jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Elta Systems, RAFAEL and other companies, Barak 8 is a surface-to-air missile (SAM), designed to defend against any type of airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, and UAVs, as well as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat jets.

KRAS is a Joint Venture between RAFAEL Advanced Defence Systems and Kalyani Strategic Systems. The JV was established with the vision of manufacturing weapon systems required by the Indian Defence Forces, as well as for the export market.

Keeping with its commitment to Make-in-India, the JV partners are investing in Best-in-Class production facilities, a state-of-the-art engineering service and extended life-cycle-support for systems supplied to the Indian Defence forces. 

In its endeavour to fulfil the stakeholders’ vision of Make-in-India for the world, KRAS is expected to ramp up its employee strength to 300 technical experts by the year 2023, according to Rafael’s announcement.

Brigadier General EVP Pini Yungman, Head of RAFAEL’s Air Defence Systems Division emphasised KRAS’s commitment to the operational readiness of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. “We at RAFAEL are proud of our role – not only in KRAS – but also of our participation in Make-in-India, and our strong relationship with the vibrant talent across India’s defence industries. As we mark the end of this project, we look forward to celebrating many more milestones with KRAS, as well as with our many other partners in India.”

RAFAEL Advanced Defence Systems Ltd. has a rich history of collaboration with India’s defence industries, resulting in multiple Joint Ventures and subsidiaries around the world and in India. These partnerships, over past two decades, have led RAFAEL to setup local partnerships to support its domestic needs as well as a global supply chain.