Despite the ongoing development of a $2 billion Indo-Israeli Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) project, the Indian Air Force is looking to domestic firms to buy an additional unspecific number of MRSAM systems as it looks to replace its aging Russian-made Pechora surface-to-air missiles.
No official with the Indian Defence Ministry would say why the need arose to acquire more MRSAMs even as the Indo-Israeli project is developing. Sources in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael of Israel in 2009 for the program, said the MRSAM prototype has failed initial tests. Sources added that the induction of the first firing unit will take place no earlier than 2017, as opposed to the planned induction this year.
