After establishing diplomatic ties with Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which recently was attacked by Houthi rebels by using missiles and drones, the Arab Emirates is working on acquiring missile defence systems from the Jewish state of Israel which is now being seen as a watershed moment in the region’s geopolitics.
The Houthis last week carried out a missile attack in which two Indians have lost their lives. This is being viewed as a significant escalation of the threat posed by them to the Gulf states, and the latest strikes have pushed the UAE to seek help from Israel, an unlikely partner in the matters of defence.
Breaking Defence has reported that “An Israeli source told Breaking Defence that three operational systems, or a combination of the three, could be a partial answer until the South Korean system comes online: Israeli Aerospace Industry’s Barak 8 or Barak ER, or the Rafael Spyder,”.
Interestingly, if the UAE buys the Barak-8 surface-to-air missile, it must be highlighted that this weapons platform was jointly developed by Israel’s Ministry of Defence and the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO )and is in service with the militaries of India and Israel.
The Barak-8 is a highly potent surface-to-air missile that has a range of around 70km and can intercept aircraft, low-flying anti-ship and cruise missiles and stealthy targets and it can be fired from both land and sea.
The new Barak ER (extended range) is a variant of the Barak-8 with a strike range of 150km and it can also intercept tactical ballistic missiles, which typically have ranges of less than 500km.
However, the UAE is not the first country to consider Israeli weaponry, because Saudi Arabia is considering buying either the Barak ER or Iron Dome missiles to counter Houthi UAVs and cruise missiles. Also, as per a report published in the Jerusalem Post, Morocco was in talks to buy the Barak-8 missile.
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