- Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on India using Israeli-made Barak-8 missiles and HARPY drones in Operation Sindoor
- India deployed the Israeli-developed weapons systems to counter missile and drone strikes by Pakistan
- Israel is the fourth largest weapons supplier to India
Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged India's use of Israeli weapons - including the Barak-8 missile, developed jointly with the Defence Research Development Organisation, and HARPY drones - during Operation Sindoor, the military response to Pakistan's involvement in the Pahalgam terror attack.
"The things we provided before worked very well on the field... we develop our weapons in the field and they are battle-tested," the Israel Prime Minister said Thursday, as he unveiled his plan to increase military strikes on Gaza to eliminate Hamas. "They worked fine and we have a pretty solid foundation."
The Indian military used Barak missiles and HARPY drones, in addition an impressive array of domestically manufactured weapons systems, to repel waves of Pak missiles over a nearly 100-hour period starting May 7. The Russian-made S-400 missile defence sytem was also used.
HARPY Drones
The HARPY is designed to attack radar systems and is optimised to operate in a 'suppression of enemy air defences', or SEAD, role. It carries a high-explosive warhead and has a special radar that can autonomously seek and strike radiation-emitting, high-value targets.
READ | India Uses HARPY Drones To Counter Pak Missile Attack
Specifically, it can track and eliminate targets in a designated area; it does this by locating frequencies and then strike from almost any direction, whether shallow or steep dive profiles.
The HARPY operates in deep-strike, day-or-night missions for up to nine hours.
Barak-8 Missiles
This is a long-range, surface-to-air missile defence system developed jointly by Israel and India, and is designed to defend against multiple airborne threats, including enemy aircraft.
READ | How Indian Defences Protected Nation, Shot Down Pak Missiles, Drones
The special features include 360-degree coverage and the ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously. The Barak missile system can be deployed on ground and on ships.
It uses an active radar to track and intercept threats, and has an operational range of 100km.
Israel Backs India Over Op Sindoor
Israel was also among several countries that supported India's retaliatory strikes. Kobbi Shoshani, the Consul General in Mumbai said it was "essential" to send a strong message to the terrorists.
"That (Op Sindoor) was an action of self-defence, and I'm very proud of this operation."
Major Defence Supplier For India
Israel is among India's largest supplier of weapons and weapons systems, a trade that has been largely unaffected by that country's war on Gaza, sources told news agency Reuters last year.
India has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Israel over the last decade, including radars, drones, and missiles. Tel Aviv has ensured a steady supply of weapons to Delhi.
In fact, Israel is the fourth largest supplier of military hardware to India over the last decade; the other three are Russia ($21.8 billion), France ($5.2 billion), and the US ($4.5 billion).
But India has been trying to reduce its dependence on foreign suppliers by boosting its arms manufacturing industry as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'aatmanirbhar Bharat' push.
As a result, defence exports have jumped from Rs 1,940 crore in 2015 to Rs 23,622 crore in 2025, during which time the country has also unveiled its first indigenously-made aircraft carrier - INS Vikrant.
NDTV Explains | Everything About India's New 5th-Generation Stealth Fighter
India is also working to an indigenously-developed fifth-generation fighter; this will be a single-seat twin-engine jet with advanced stealth coatings and internal weapons bays like the US' F-22 and F-35.
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