Defense News
TEL AVIV — The Israel Navy performed its first sea-based operational intercept of the Barak-8 air defense system Wednesday, one in a series of planned tests prior to planned initial operational capability within two years.
“Today, the Barak-8 was launched from a Sa’ar-5 Covette against a UAV simulating a threat to a ship at sea. Barak-8 successfully intercepted the target. The system’s radar allowed the Navy to detect targets at long detection ranges, and the system enabled us to engage the threat from long-distance range,” an Israeli military officer told reporters.
The first operational intercept test followed a final development test conducted jointly by Israeli developers, led by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and their Indian partners.
The Israeli military official said the system’s digital phased array radar successfully acquired and tracked the target at a range of more than 20 kilometers but less than 120 kilometers. He said it elevated Israeli comfort levels in their ability to defend against a spectrum of advanced threats, including the Russian-made Yahkont cruise missile that is in the hands of Lebanese-based Hizbollah forces.
“Today’s test was not just a trial. It was a successful operational test of the full operational system, which has been fully integrated into the Israel Navy’s Sa’ar-5 surface ship,” said Boaz Levy, IAI corporate vice president and general manager of the firm’s Systems, Missiles and Space Group…
