Posted on 06/29/2009 2:04:32 PM PDT by MyTwoCopperCoins
THE BARAK-8 is the next-generation long-range surface-to-air missile that India and Israel are currently developing as part of a co-development contract signed in 2007.
The new generation Barak-8 Air and Missile Defense weapon system currently provides a complete solution to every type of airborne threat, whether that threat be from aircraft, tactical missiles, helicopters, or unmanned aerial vehicles. The system has two versions - maritime and land-based - each relying on an advanced, phased-array radar integrated with an advanced launch system containing “smart” missile interceptors, and a state-of-the-art command and control (C2) system, altogether providing full 360° coverage.
Barak-8 is unique in that it has a built-in ‘intelligence’ within the missile battery’s C2 system. The C2 system can ‘talk’ with other missile batteries, with external radars, and with air traffic control systems, creating an optimised scenario for detecting, engaging, and destroying the target. It is manifested by the threat being automatically neutralized through the most appropriate missile battery launching the missile. Especially impressive is that a radar connected to a given missile battery that may have detected the threat, may not necessarily be part of the same battery that will respond to the threat. This allows us to maximize the system’s capabilities and create the most optimal interception scenario. It should be noted that the advanced, digital, phased-array radar was specifically developed by IAI Elta Systems, Ltd.
The system has been designed from the start to intercept planes and tactical missiles such as air-to-ground missiles and naval anti-ship missiles. The Barak-8 is based on advanced concepts of defense system architecture, including advanced seekers, warheads, high performance maneuvering capabilities, and the ability to be optimally-controlled. The missile can receive and process continuous updates on the position and flight trajectory of the target, and use these updates to adjust its own flight to best intercept and destroy the target. The unique missile propulsion system allows the missile to maintain energy, even after it has been airborne for an extended time, and reserve sufficient energy for the end-game or the target’s final engagement and hit. It must be remembered that the enemy missile is also trying to manoeuvre and evade the Barak-8.
The battlefield does not only have one or two threats that the Barak-8 must neutralize; in fact, there are a wide range of threats, coming from all directions and creating a number of potential targets, including our own forces’ airplanes.
Everything that was mentioned up until this point applies to any number of threats. Of course, no one battery, no matter how sophisticated, will be able to deal with dozens of missiles simultaneously. Integration and network co-ordination of resources creates synergy among the batteries and helps to successfully deal with a battlefield saturated with targets.
For instance, within a given formation or fleet of naval ships, each equipped with a Barak-8, they communicate with one another through the secure communication channels and data link within the integrated system. In an automated manner, the system knows how to optimally allocate targets throughout various batteries of the naval formation, and among the various batteries of the network; and eliminate every threat, be it missiles, planes, or helicopters.
Similarly, land-based versions of the Barak-8 system can be easily and quickly deployed across tens of kilometers between the individually deployed batteries, and provide 360° coverage over the widest possible protected area against cruise missiles, airborne munitions launched from planes or ships, and other threats.
The system has the ability to interconnect with other systems and can thereby receive information on the threat from a wide variety of sources. It’s in the final stages of development and is expected to be completed in 2010-2011. IAI already has customers for both the maritime and the land-based defense systems.
named for Ehud Barak the MoD?
bump for later read
I don’t think so, although Ehud Barak has heroism in his history.
I wish we could get involved in this one....oh wait, Barry is in charge...
and why the hail is it named barak
‘Barak’ means lightning, and that’s what this missile is named after.
That's putting it mildly...
During the Yom Kippur War, Barak commanded an improvised regiment of tanks which among other things, helped rescue paratrooper battalion 890 commanded by Yitzhak Mordechai who were suffering heavy losses in the Battle of the Chinese Farm.
During his service as a commando in the elite Sayeret Matkal, Barak led several highly acclaimed operations, such as: "Operation Isotope", the rescue mission to free the hostages onboard Sabena Flight 572 at Lod Airport in 1972
the 1973 covert mission Operation Spring of Youth in Beirut, in which he was disguised as a woman in order to assassinate members of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Barak was also a key architect of the June 1976 Operation Entebbe, another rescue mission to free the hostages of the Air France aircraft hijacked by terrorists and forced to land at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda
Barak also masterminded the Tunis Raid on April 16, 1988, in which PLO leader Abu Jihad was assassinated.
the most decorated soldier in Israeli history, he was awarded in 1993 the Legion of Merit (Commander) by the United States. Barak is also an expert in krav maga, the official martial art of the Israeli Defense Forces.
This is the first time they have named a missile in honor of a defense minister.
Will we ever replicate the tradition of naming a missile system in honor of a past defense secretary?
The only target in Iran, judging from the map, is Bushehr?
If the Israeli Air Force wanted to strike additional targets in Iran, they cannot do so because the Ra’ams and Sufas are unstealthy and will become mincemeat for the SA-20Bs and SA-15s.
Well theres (or was) the USS Forrestal...
“the most decorated soldier in Israeli history”
There is a reason that Netanyahu wanted him for MOD.
Not a single soldier was lost in the recent Gaza operation, and the IDF controlled the reportage.
His nickname from his teens was Mr Safety Pin. He was head of Sayeret Matkal during post Munich ops too.
“During his service as a commando in the elite Sayeret Matkal, Barak led several highly acclaimed operations, such as: “Operation Isotope”, the rescue mission to free the hostages onboard Sabena Flight 572 at Lod Airport in 1972”
Bibi Netanyahu was wounded in that op.
fyi
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.