BARAK 8 CAN COUNTER FIREPOWER OF THE CHINESE NAVY

INTRODUCTION

Chinese Military specialist while speaking on Indian Naval Capabilities in a Militaryshow hosted by state broadcaster CCTV channel has identified long-range surface to air missile LRSAM which is also known as Barak 8 as a key weapon system. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

The expert stated that the system can counter firepower of the People’s Liberation Army, Navy while operating in the Indian ocean to a great extent. Readers may note that Barak 8 surface-to-air missile (SAM) is designed to defend against any type of airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, and UAVs as well as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and combat jets. It is one of the most successful joint ventures between India and Israel and has been a major milestone in terms of strategic cooperation.

Barak-8

In this article, Defence Talks analyzes why China is concerned about the capabilities of Indo Israel Barak 8? Let’s get started.

BACKGROUND

On July 14, 2006, an anti-ship missile fired from Lebanon struck the Israeli SAAR-5 MissileCorvette INS Ahi-Hanit. During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon crisis, the vessel was patrolling in Lebanese waters 10 nautical miles off the coast of Beirut. It was damaged on the waterline, under the aft when the superstructure was hit by a Chinese-designed C-802 missile fired by Hezbollah.

As per reports, the missile started a fire aboard the ship and critically damaged the vessel's steering capability and the vessel had to be towed back to Israel. A large explosion was also triggered on the deck and practically destroyed the helicopter landing pad. The attack leads to four casualties. The C-802 series missile is a clone of the rocket-powered French Exocet missile upgraded with a turbojet to give its performance comparable to early marks of the US Navy Harpoon anti-ship missile.

The upgraded C-802 uses a rocket booster for the launch, and a turbojet cruise motor, giving it a range of up to 85 miles or around 140 km. The warhead uses about 180 kg or 400 lbs of shaped charge explosives, which makes it a threat to even large warships. As per the Israeli Navy, the ship’s sophisticated automatic missile defense system was intentionally disabled. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

This was done for two reasons, one, there were many Israeli Air Force aircraft conducting operations in the vicinity of the ship and it was feared that the system may accidentally be triggered by a friendly aircraft, potentially shooting it down. Second, there was no intelligence pointing to the fact that such a sophisticated missile was deployed in Lebanon by Hezbollah. But none the less, this incident hastened the development of a new air defense system Barak 8 is jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), India's Defense Research& Development Organization (DRDO), Israel's Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Elta Systems, Rafael and other companies.

Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) is responsible for producing the missiles in India. Barak 8 is based on the original Barak 1 missile and it features a more advanced seeker, alongside range extensions that moves it closer to medium range naval systems like the RIM-162 ESSM or even the SM-2 Standard missile system. India’s previous positive experiences with BARAK 1, and the opportunity to help develop new technologies instead of buying them, led India toward Israel for its next-generation naval SAM partnership. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE

The missile has a length of about 4.5 m, a diameter of 0.54 m and a wingspan of 0.94 m. The missile has a maximum speed of Mach 2 with a maximum operational range of 70 km or around 45 miles. The range was later increased to 100 km or about 60 miles. Barak 8 features a dual pulse rocket motor as well as Thrust vector control.

This enables high degrees of maneuverability making it very hard for the target to evade. A second motor is fired during the terminal phase, during which an active radar seeker is initialized to home in on to the enemy track. The BARAK 8 missile system can operate by night as well as by day in addition to all-weather conditions.

It is capable of successfully dealing with simultaneous threats engagements, even in severe saturation scenarios. The system has a very short reaction time and a fast missile vertical launch capability with 360-degree coverage. A very important feature of Barack 8 is that the minimum engagement range is only 0.31miles or 0.5 km.

So the system can target an incoming hostile object till the very last seconds, potentially giving it the ability to target it multiple times. Some experts believe that Barack 8 is the only air defense system that can reliably intercept a supersonic missile-like Brahmos which is developed jointly by India and Russia and considered to be one the most lethal operational anti-ship missile. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

TARGET ACQUISITION

MF STAR is the eye for Barack 8. MF-STAR is an acronym of Multi-Function Surveillance, Track and Guidance Radar. MF STAR, which can track hundreds of targets simultaneously, is meant to provide guidance to the BARACK 8 missiles.

It is multifunction active electronically scanned array naval radar that can track incoming missiles and aircraft at ranges beyond 185 miles or 300 km and sea-skimming missiles at about 15.5 miles or 25 km. The radar system is made up of 4 active arrays operating in the S-band, each of the 4 arrays is positioned in one direction. The radar deploys multi-beam and pulsed Doppler techniques. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

It also has robust Electronic counter techniques to extract low radar cross-section targets from complex clutter and jamming environments. The MF-STAR is considered to be as powerful as the US Navy’s Aegis combat system that uses the AN/SPY-1D radar and forms the core of America’s most advanced Ticonderoga class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

DEPLOYMENT AND FEATURE

Israel is already manufacturing Barak 8 and installed it its 3 Saar 5 class corvettes. The Barak 1 installed in lighter Sa’ar 4.5-class corvettes has been replaced with Barak 8. Indian Navy’s Kolkata-class destroyers, Visakhapatnam-class destroyers, Kamorta-class corvettes, and aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant have Barrack 8 installed or are currently in the process of having it installed.

BARAK launch from INS Vikramaditya

It has been reported that an ER (extended range) variant of the Barak 8 is under development, which will see the missiles maximum range increased to 93 miles or 150 km. Designed to engage multiple beyond visual range threats, the low launch signature Barak-8 will retain the same navigation system and active radar seeker guidance as to the Barak-8.

Some modifications to the software and to the missile control surfaces are expected, though the exact details are not available. The missile will have an increased length of 6 m from its current 4.5 m to accommodate more fuel. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

ANALYSIS

Indian experts are satisfied with the capabilities of Barack 8. In September 2018, MDL and GRSE awarded Bharat Electronics Limited with a $1.28 billion contract to supply seven Barak-8 air defense systems for Project 17A-class frigates being building India.

In October 2018, Bharat Electronics Limited signed a $777 million deal with Israel AerospaceIndustries to help fulfill the Barak-8 order. It's clear that most Indian warship will be field this system and hence will be able to take on almost any airborne threat including Chinese anti-ship missiles. Hence, it is natural for the Chinese to be worried about Barack 8. BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy

BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy BARAK 8 can counter firepower of the Chinese navy