COSC Admiral Lanba in Israel to ‘understand regional security’

NEWDELHI: Admiral Sunil Lanba, chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and navy chief, is going on a four-day visit to Israel on Sunday even as Tel Aviv is all set to offer manufacture of Spike hand held “fire and forget” anti-tank guided missile to India under the “Make in India” rubric.

This is the last Indian highprofile visitor to Israel before Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in Tel Aviv on July 5. Admiral Lanba will be in Israel till June 15.

Admiral Lanba visit comes after a Parliamentary delegation led by minister of state for agriculture and parliamentary affairs SS Ahluwalia went all over the Jewish nation in search of state of the art agricultural technologies.

Top government sources told HT that Lanba will be visiting Haifa naval port along with interactions with Army and Air Force chiefs of Israel.

His visit will be to understand regional security perspective without delving into hardware acquisition.

However, it is now clear that Israel wants to participate in the “Make in India” initiative with offer to manufacture Spike ATGM.

The Spike ATGM, manufactured by Rafael Systems, is also used in anti personnel role with infra-red seeker.

The other option on the table is US manufactured Javelin shoulder fired missile.

Even though the Modi government wants to focus on relationship with Israel beyond the defence ties, India is also looking towards manufacturing of medium altitude long endurance armed Heron TP unmanned aerial vehicle under the same “Make in India” route.

THIS IS THE LAST INDIAN HIGHPROFILE VISITOR TO ISRAEL BEFORE MODI LANDS IN TEL AVIV ON JULY 5. LANBA WILL BE IN ISRAEL TILL JUNE 15