With the confidence in the Spike missile established, the Indian Army may need to revisit their plans for 3rd Gen missiles, Rafael had said.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on Friday hit out at Israeli defence firm Rafael which reportedly raised questions on the development of its Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM).
Earlier this week, the Indian Army test-fired two Spike LR (long-range) anti-tank missiles, acquired from Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, at the Infantry School at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. The Army has procured 12 launchers and around 250 missiles from the Israeli defence firm.
In a statement issued by a public relations, Rafael said that the Indian Army needed to “revisit” their plans for third-generation missiles as it had been using outdated second-generation missiles for three decades and the Spike missile was the only one to qualify as a replacement for the existing inventory.
Noting that DRDO’s ATGM programme seems to have been some progress, Rafel said that "it will take a long time for it to reach the user in the field”.
"With the confidence in the Spike missile established, the Indian Army may need to revisit their plans for 3rd Gen missiles. Both the DRDO ATGM programme, as well as the invitation to Indian industry to develop a 3rd Gen missile will need a rethink, as having a 4th Gen missile will put the plan for development of a 3rd Gen missile questionable,” the firm said in the statement.
DRDO issued a strong statement on Twitter saying that the reports based on the press release were circulating "incorrect facts."
"A news item relating to Spike Missile testing at the Infantry school MHOW purportedly based on a press release is circulating incorrect facts. The DRDO ATGM is a state of art missile in advanced stages of development," its tweet said.
According to a report by the Hindustan Times, the reason behind this spat is a multi-million dollar contract. In 2017, India scrapped a US $500 million (Rs 3,500 crore) contract for a purchase of 321 launchers and 8,356 fire-and-forget missiles from Rafael in favour of indigenous manufacturing.
The Indian Army, however, recently procured a small batch of 12 launchers and around 250 Spike missiles from the Israeli firm under the new financial powers for emergency procurements.
Rafael has established a joint venture with the Kalyani Group in India to manufacture Spike missiles in India, and will also look at export opportunities.
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