Bloomberg:
Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. has confirmed the Indian government canceled a missile contract worth nearly $500 million just two weeks before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit the world’s biggest arms importer.
The Indian Defense Ministry’s plan to buy Rafael’s Spike anti-tank missiles had been agreed upon after a “long and rigorous process,” though no contract was signed, the Haifa-based company said in an emailed statement Wednesday. Signs the deal might be scrapped were first reported by the Indian Express newspaper in November.
India’s government canceled the contract in order to give the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation an opportunity to design, develop and manufacture its own anti-tank missile, according to two Indian defense officials, who asked not to be identified because they were talking about private discussions.
