Israeli Defense Contractor Rafael Opens New Facility in India
Israel supplied 15% of India’s arms imports from 2014-2018, according to SIPRI’s 2019 annual arms transfer report
Recent years have seen bilateral relations between India and Israel blossom. India accounted for 49% of Israeli arms export between 2013 and 2017, making Israel the third-largest supplier to India, according to a 2017 report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Israel supplied 15% of India’s arms imports between 2014 and2018, according to SIPRI’s 2019 annual arms transfer report. In comparison, the U.S. supplied 12% of India’s weapon imports during that time period.
Inauguration of the new facility in Hyderabad. Photo: Rafael Rafael has been active in India for more than two decades. In February, the Indian Air Force (IAF) had crossed the de facto border between the Indian and Pakistani-held areas of Kashmir for the first time since 1971, and fired multiple missiles utilizing Rafael-made Spice-2000 guidance kits, Indian news outlet The Print reported.
In 2016, the Indian government agreed to purchase 8,000 ‘Spike’ anti-tank missiles and 300 missile-launchers from Rafael. The missiles were supposed to be partly manufactured in India, but the deal appears to have been scrapped since.
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Rafael is one of Israel's largest defense companies. In 2018, it reported more than $2.5 billion in revenues. Rafael employs more than 8,000 people in Israel, the U.S., the U.K., Korea, Australia, Brazil, India, and Thailand.
