Spike Missile Deal is Back

Ahead of Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to India on January 14, the Ministry of Defense formally informed Rafael Advanced Defense Systems that they were withdrawing the Request For Proposal (RFP) of 8,000 Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) for $500 million. There had been rumblings earlier with the DRDO objecting to the technology transfer clause stating that the DRDO was well prepared to produce ATGMs of the same level within 4 years. On January 12, two days before Netanyahu’s visit, Arutz Sheva carried a report that the Indian Army Chief, Bipin Rawat had stated that the Army was in talks with the Government to ‘bridge the gap’ till 2022 when the DRDO’s indigenously produced ATGMs would be operational. While Netanyahu was in India, on January 17 he mentioned that the deal was being ‘reauthorized’.

The new ‘Spike’ Deal will be made through the Government to Government route. There won’t be a ‘transfer of technology’ clause, which the Army claims would lower the cost of the deal. The Spike ATGM was chosen over Raytheon-Lockheed Martin’s Javelin Missile in 2012 since the company objected to the transfer of technology clause. The transfer of technology clause has been a bone of contention for US arms companies regarding sales to India. The Spike missile comes in several variants with launchers that can be loaded onto vehicles, as well ones that can be carried by infantry units. The current status of such mobile launched ATGMs in the Indian Army’s inventory are those of the Soviet era. The maximum range of the existing systems is at 2 km. The Spike ATGMs have a longer range and operate on the ‘fire and forget’ basis.