India is set to test fire the Barak 8 missile jointly developed with Israeli weapons companies. Photo: YouTube Screenshot.

About six years after Israel signed a $1.1 billion deal to upgrade the Barak 8 surface-to-air missile system with India, India was gearing up to conduct its own test-fire of the projectile, Indian NDTV reported on Friday.

If successful, the test would pave the way for the Barak 8 system to become a fully operational and incorporated defense system in the Indian navy.

Defense sources in India told NDTV that the country’s navy would test the missile during the upcoming monsoon season so that “operational challenge is created.”

The Barak 8, based on Israel’s Barak 1 shipborne point-defense missile system, can intercept an incoming missile from as little as 500 meters away, as well as other aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The Barak 8 missile is 4.5 meters long and has a 0.225 meter diameter. The system includes the missile, a fire control system and 360-degree track-and-guidance radar and a vertical launch unit, which can accommodate up to eight missiles.

According to the report, the radar and launch unit are already in place on Indian destroyers, awaiting the upcoming test.

The system was developed jointly by Israel Aerospace Industries, India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation, Israel’s Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure, Rafael, Elta Systems and other companies.

Israel conducted a successful test of the system in November last year.

The deal in 2009 came amid increasing defense ties between the two nations. Israel sees a crucial naval ally in India as the country dominates South Asia’s seas. India believes the Barak 8 system is essential to allow Indian warships to confront threats from neighboring Pakistan and China.

Watch the missile in action below: