Current Affairs - International - Discussion

India scraped $500 million arms deal with Israel for the purchase of Spike anti-tank missiles from defence contractor Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. This was done after Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) claimed that it could deliver an alternative with a partnership with VEM technologies Ltd within two years. The project was given to DRDO due to the fast progressive second stage of testing Man-Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM). MPATGM was successfully test-fired at the Ahmednagar range in September 2018. India's deal with Israel for 321 Spike launchers and 8,356 missiles was initially struck in October 2014 after the Defence Ministry selected Spike over the US-made FGM-148 Javelin. Later, it was scrapped in December 2017 in favour of DRDO.