Barak 8

   The Barak 8 (Herbew for Lightning 8) is a naval air defense missile system, jointly developed by India and Israel. Design of the Barak 8 is loosely based on the previous Barak 1 missile. Though it uses a more advanced seeker and has extended range. The missile, initially known as Barak 2, was successfully test fired in 2010. Production commenced in 2017. This air defense system is used in India, Israel and Azerbaijan. The Barak 8 missile was first launched in Azerbaijan in 2016. In 2014 Poland evaluated Barak 8 missiles for use on its warships.

   The Barak 8 is a 275 kg missile with a 225 mm diameter (the booster is 540 mm wide), a fin span of 940 mm, and a length of 4.5 m. It is propelled by a two-stage smokeless pulsed rocket motor with a thrust-vectoring nozzle, allowing a flight speed of Mach 2, a range of 70 km, and an engagement ceiling of 16 km, and carries a 60 kg HE-FRAG warhead. Later the range was reportedly increased to 100 km. Active radar guidance makes the Barak 8 totally autonomous once it acquires its target, and it may be employed against a wide range of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and anti-ship missiles.

   The Barak 8 missiles are launched vertically from the canister-launchers and provide 360 degree coverage. The launch systems holds 8 ready-to-fire missiles. All 8 missiles can be fired within 20 seconds.

   Though anti-aircraft missiles with radar guidance and/or ranges beyond 20 km (both air and surface launched) historically have very poor probability of kill; anywhere from 5 to 30 missile launches may be required for each confirmed kill. There is also an infrared-homing version of the Barak 8.

   Azerbaijan uses a land-based version of the Barak 8, mounted on Belarusian MZKT-7301 military trucks with 8x8 configuration.

Variants

   Barak 8ER is a version with a maximum range of 150 km. Letters "ER" in the designation denote the "Extended Range". This missile comes with a larger booster and is 6 m long opposed to 4.5 m of a standard Barak 8. Some sources report that Azerbaijan operates this extended range system.

   MR-SAM is a land-based medium-range air defense missile system. The acronym stands for Medium-Range Surface-to-Air. Development of this system was initiated by the Indian Air Force to replace the ageing Soviet-made air defense systems. Indian Army also joined the project. In 2015 this air defense system made successful missile launches. The launcher is based on a semi-trailer and uses Barak 8 missiles.

   LR-SAM is a naval long-range air defense missile system. The acronym stands for Long-Range Surface-to-Air. It also used Barak 8 missiles. The system is believed to have a range in excess of 100 km. This system is fitted on three India's Kolkata class destroyers. It is planned that in the neat future the LR-SAM will be fitted on the Indian Navy ships, that a currently under construction, including INS Vikrant aircraft carrier, Vishakapatnaam class destroyers, project 17A frigates and some other warships. Israeli Navy also operates a similar system on their vessels. Israel was refitting its Sa'ar 5-class corvettes to carry these missiles. The INS Lahav was the first vessel fitted this system. After modernization all Israeli Sa'ar 5-class corvettes were armed with Barak 8 missiles.