NEW DELHI – India will purchase Spike Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) fromIsrael through the so-called government to government (G to G) routebecause the military wants the proven weapon, and the Defence Research andDevelopment Organization (DRDO) has no objections to the deal as long as itdoes not involve transfer of technology (TOT), Hindustan Times has reported.

Last month after much deliberations, the defence ministry withdraw theRequest for Proposals (RFP) for 8,000 Israeli spike missiles, a deal thatwould have been worth $500 million, after DRDO developed the indigenous NagATGM with seeker software and said it was against any TOT from RafaelAdvanced Systems, the Israeli company that makes the Spike missile.

While the Israelis were upset as the withdrawal of RFP came almost on theeve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to New Delhi on January14, South Block officials said they have no objections to the Indian Armypurchasing the long range (not line of sight) ATGM from Israel through theG to G route. This decision has been discussed at the highest level, theyadded, especially because Rafael Systems, Bharat Dynamics Limited andKalyani Strategic Systems have set up a factory to manufacture the ATGM inHyderabad under the “ Make in India” route.

Spike is a battle proven missile which has much longer range andcomparatively light in weight when compared to Nag. The Nag missile hasperformed well in trials and has range of 500 meters to four kilometers.Defence ministry officials were at pains to emphasize that India has a deepdefence cooperation with Israel and has recently approved a huge order topurchase torpedoes for its new submarines from that country. India is alsolooking to purchase assault rifles for the Army from Israel, they added.