Induction of MR-SAM for Indian Army

In a major push for India-Israel defence ties, the cabinet committee on security has cleared a $2.5 billion (Rs 17,000 crore) proposal for acquiring the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MR-SAM) for the Indian Army. MR-SAM has been jointly developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israeli Aircraft Industry (IAI) with involvement of Indian companies like Tata, BEL, L&T, BDL and other private vendors. On the Israeli side IAI has worked, on this project, in collaboration with Rafael and Elta.

MR-SAM is a mobile system and the missile has a range of 50 km to 70 km for shooting down a variety of aerial targets. The system configuration includes Advanced Phased Array Radar, Command and Control vehicle, Mobile Launchers and Missiles with advanced RF Seeker. The Indian Army will induct over five regiments of MR-SAM which will have 40 missile launchers with about 200 missiles. The Army plans to deploy MR-SAM with its mechanised formations operating in the plains, semi-desert and desert terrain. The delivery of the first system will commence in 2023.