Army, IAF induct advanced Israeli ‘tank killers’ - that helped Ukraine destroyed hundreds of Russian tanks and other armored vehicles

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tank killer missile

In the midst of a two-year military standoff with China in eastern Ladakh, the Army and IAF have begun to induct advanced Israeli anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) with longer ranges and greater armour-penetration capabilities.

Last year, the Israeli 'tank killers' were ordered as part of emergency procurements in response to the ongoing troop standoff with China, which has yet to de-escalate. During the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, such weapons have proven to be extremely useful.

Since the conflict began on February 24, Ukrainian troops armed with US-made Javelin ATGMs and western next-generation light anti-tank light missiles (NLAWs) have destroyed hundreds of Russian

tanks and other armoured vehicles.

The Israeli Spike ATGM family is just as lethal and versatile. The Army will receive the Spike LR-2 launchers and missiles, which have a ground strike range of 5.5 kilometres, while the IAF will equip its Russian-made Mi-17 V5 armed helicopters with Spike NLOS (non-line of sight) missiles, which can destroy ground targets up to 30 kilometres away.

"Under emergency procurements, both fifth-generation ATGMs are being inducted in small numbers to fill operational gaps. "Make in India' projects will meet the much larger requirement for ATGMs," a top defence source said on Sunday.

"The pilot-controlled NLOS missiles, which can be armed with a variety of warheads," he explained, "are primarily intended for specialised 'behind the hill' missions by IAF helicopters."

In September 2015, the IAF received 22 Apache attack helicopters armed with Stinger air-to-air missiles, Hellfire Longbow air-to-ground missiles, guns, and rockets as part of a Rs 13,952 crore deal with the US. In February 2020, the Army will receive six Apache helicopters as part of a Rs 5,691 crore deal.

The Spike LR-2 missiles can be equipped with either a tandem HEAT (high explosive anti-tank) warhead or a smart multi-purpose warhead, which has a 30% higher armour-penetration capability.

The Army had previously inducted a small number of older-generation Spike tank-killers, with a strike range of four kilometres, to meet immediate operational needs until the indigenous man-portable


ATGMs developed by the DRDO were ready.

The Army has been requesting third and fourth-generation ATGMs for well over a decade due to a severe shortage of various types of shoulder, vehicle, and helicopter-launched ATGMs.

The force's current inventory consists primarily of second-generation Milan-2T (2-km range) and Konkurs (4-km range) ATGMs, which are manufactured by defence PSU Bharat Dynamics under licence from French and Russian firms.

With a maximum strike range of 8 kilometres, the indigenous helicopter-launched third-generation ATGMS, Helina for the Army and Dhruvastra for the IAF, have been successfully tested from Dhruv advanced light helicopters but have yet to be inducted.

In January of this year, DRDO tested the man-portable ATGM in its "final deliverable configuration," which has a strike range of 2.5 kilometres. However, induction is still a long way off.

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