CONTEXT :

• The Indian Navy conducted significant missile tests boosting its anti-air warfare capabilities.
• The first cooperative engagement firing of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) or Barak-8 was held on the Western Seaboard.
• The firing was undertaken on the western seaboard by the INS Kochi and the INS Chennai.

BACKGROUND :

• BARAK 8 is an Indian-Israeli surface-to-air missile (SAM), 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.
• Barak 8 was jointly developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), India’s Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Elta Systems, Rafael and other companies.
• Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) produces the missiles.