Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has won a $777 million deal with Indian government company BEL. As part of the deal, IAI will supply Barak 8 air defense systems to seven ships belonging to the Indian Navy.

The IAI explained that this deal brings Barak 8 sales in recent years to a total of $6 billion.
The Barak 8 system is an advanced air defense system that provides wide regional protection against a variety of threats, and is in operational use in the Israeli Navy and air, sea and land forces in India.

“IAI’s relationship with India dates back many years and has culminated in joint system development and production,” said IAI CEO Nimrod Sheffer in a statement on Wednesday. “India is a major market for IAI and we plan to…reinforce our positioning in India, also in view of increasing competition.”

In a statement on Twitter, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that “this is more proof that security is an investment and not an expense. IAI is a national asset that we need to protect and strengthen.”

The Barak 8 system was first developed in order to provide protection against modern threats, and can respond to both air and ground attack.

Last year, IAI struck a deal worth almost $2 billion to supply India’s army and navy with missile defense systems. This was followed by a $630 million contract with BEL to supply Barak 8 surface-to-air missile systems for four ships in the Indian navy.

It was developed by IAI in collaboration with  Defense Ministry, India’s Defense Research and Development Organisation, the navies of both countries, Israel’s Rafael and local industries in India and Israel.

Since 2006, IAI has sold a total of $ 3 billion to its customers, including launchers and command and control systems.