India to procure 1,000 Rafael SPICE air-to-surface missiles

India’s Protection Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Minister of Protection Rajnath Singh, yesterday permitted in depth procurement for an general $8.7 billion. Among the many many arms included within the deal are SPICE 1000 steering kits (SPICE 1000/Gentle Hail) manufactured by Israeli firm Rafael Superior Protection Methods, in accordance with studies within the Indian media.

SPICE is a household of exact and autonomous air-to-ground weapon techniques, with a spread of as much as 100 kilometers, with three forms of bombs of various weights. SPICE 1000 weighs about 500 kilograms, and all the system, developed by Rafael, has gained the Israel Protection Prize. The distinctiveness of the SPICE household is the power to navigate and residential in on the goal autonomously, independently of GPS, utilizing an electro-optical homing head that includes an revolutionary mathematical algorithm, which compares the goal picture to what it sees in actual time and thus achieves extraordinarily excessive hit accuracy of lower than three meters.

India’s combating with Pakistan in Might highlighted the nation’s want for arms in various techniques generally and from Israel particularly. This was clearly mirrored in early November when the Director Basic of the Ministry of Protection, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Baram, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen safety cooperation together with his Indian counterpart, Rajesh Kumar Singh.

Israel protection industries greatest buyer

In response to the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute (SIPRI), India is the largest buyer of Israeli protection industries, accounting for about 34% of all exports between 2020 and 2024. Final month, the IDRW web site reported {that a} delegation from the Indian Ministry of Protection had secretly arrived in Israel, to achieve agreements that will result in India procuring Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Air LORA ballistic missiles and Rafael’s Ice Breaker cruise missiles, however would additionally manufacture them itself.

Earlier studies in India have already indicated that India desires Air LORA missiles following the nice success of the Rampage missiles within the latest combating with Pakistan. Rampage has a spread of about 250 kilometers, and the Indian Air Pressure makes use of it on Sukhoi 30 and MiG 29 plane. Rampage may be very correct, however its vary is about 150-250 kilometers, which places Indian fighter jets in danger in opposition to Pakistani protection techniques made in China. In distinction, Air LORA has a spread of about 400 kilometers, and with it fighter jets can hit targets, with out endangering themselves from superior air protection techniques.

Air LORA, developed at IAI’s MLM plant, is designed to hit missile websites, navy bases and air protection techniques. The missile weighs about 1,600 kilograms, flies at supersonic velocity, and makes use of satellite tv for pc navigation that is protected against jamming. Certainly one of its most notable benefits is the “launch and overlook” methodology, that means it’s launched to the goal and doesn’t have to be guided alongside the way in which. Its warheads are various and might be designed to hit delicate targets or bunkers. With a spread of about 400 kilometers and a strike radius of solely about ten meters, it’s anticipated to permit India to hit any Pakistani base.

India can also be within the Rafael’s Ice Breaker cruise missile, which is designed for assaults at ranges of about 300 kilometers in opposition to land and sea targets. The missile is efficient in all climate situations, can operate properly in environments saturated with digital warfare, and has infrared (IIR)-based navigation and missile steering capabilities, which, by means of AI, can purchase and determine targets.

Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on December 30, 2025.

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