Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
IAI is Israel's largest state-owned aerospace and defence company and one of India's most established foreign OEM partners, with a documented 30-year strategic relationship. It has executed multi-bill
Last verified:
At a Glance
- Headquarters
- Lod (Ben Gurion Airport area), Israel
- Type
- Manufacturer (listed)
- Founded
- 1953 (as Bedek Aviation Company; restructured as IAI in 1979)
- India entity
- null
- Listed
- Government-owned (Israel Ministry of Defense); bonds traded on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE: IAI)
- Key India role
- IAI is Israel's largest state-owned aerospace and defence company and one of India's most established foreign OEM partners, with a documented 30-year strategic relationship. It has executed multi-bill
- indicators
- []
- key specs
- []
What It Is
IAI is Israel's largest state-owned aerospace and defence company and one of India's most established foreign OEM partners, with a documented 30-year strategic relationship. It has executed multi-billion-dollar Indian contracts spanning AWACS (EL/W-2090 on IL-76), Barak-8 naval air defence (LR-SAM, $777M, 2018) jointly with DRDO/BEL, and the Heron family of MALE UAVs (Heron Mk-II, Heron TP). IAI Harop loitering munitions were used by India during Operation Sindoor (May 2025) against Pakistani air-defence targets, and India has initiated procurement of additional Heron Mk-II post-Sindoor (Dec 2025). IAI has a New Delhi subsidiary (Aerospace Services India / ASI, opened 2022, operational 2024) for life-cycle support of air-defence systems, and a new JV with DCX (Apr 2025) for loitering munitions. Combined backlog exposure to India was disclosed in IAI's 2023 annual report as a material portion of its $30B+ order backlog.
Deployments & Procurement
6 documented India deployment(s)/procurement(s).
| Agency | Context | Year | Quantity / Note | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indian Navy / BEL (on behalf of MoD) | $777M contract for Barak-8 LR-SAM systems for Indian Navy destroyers | 2018 | Multiple ship-sets (Kolkata/Visakhapatnam/Nilgiri class) | [1][2][3] |
| Indian Air Force / Indian Navy | EL/W-2090 Phalcon AWACS $1.1B contract | 2004 | 3 systems on Il-76 | [1][2][3] |
| Indian Army (Northern Command) | 4 Heron TP leased for LAC surveillance | 2021 | 4 | [1][2][3] |
| Indian Army / IAF (Eastern Ladakh) | Procurement of 4 Heron Mk-II for surveillance in Ladakh | 2021 | 4 | [1][2][3] |
| IAF / Indian Army (Operation Sindoor) | Harop loitering munitions used in strikes on Pakistani air-defence targets during Operation Sindoor (May 2025); post-conflict push to procure more Heron Mk-II | 2025 | n/a (operational use) | [1][2][3] |
| BEL (JV partner) | BEL-IAI Joint Venture Company for co-production of air defence systems and missile systems in India | ongoing | n/a (JV) | [1][2][3] |
Import Dependencies
Not analysed in this dossier.
Intelligence Assessment
Methodology: /research/methodology/
FAQ
What is IAI's largest India defence contract?
IAI's largest single disclosed India contract is the $777 million Barak-8 LR-SAM deal signed with BEL on 24 October 2018 for the Indian Navy's air-defence missile systems; an additional $93M follow-on for missile deliveries was signed in February 2019.
Does IAI have a subsidiary in India?
Yes. IAI announced a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, AeroSpace Services India (ASI), based in New Delhi, in October 2022; it was formally operationalised in 2024 to provide product life-cycle support for IAI's air-defence systems in India under the Make in India programme.
Did India use IAI Harop drones during Operation Sindoor?
Yes. IAI Harop loitering munitions (in Indian inventory since the late 2000s) were reportedly used during Operation Sindoor in May 2025 to strike Pakistani air-defence targets around Lahore, prompting India to move to procure additional Heron Mk-II UAVs post-conflict (December 2025).
Sources
- src-01Officialhttps://www.iai.co.il/press/iai-to-provide-777-million-worth-of-barak-8-lrsam-air-missile-defence-systems-to-state-owned-bel-in-india
Official IAI announcement of $777M Barak-8 LR-SAM contract with BEL for Indian Navy
- src-02Crediblehttps://www.timesofisrael.com/iai-wins-777-million-deal-to-supply-india-with-maritime-missile-defense-system
Confirms $777M Indian Navy maritime missile defense order
- src-03Crediblehttps://thedefensepost.com/2018/10/24/india-israel-barak-8-air-defense-missile-777-million-deal
Confirms IAI $777M Indian Navy Barak 8 contract
- src-04Crediblehttps://www.missiledefenseadvocacy.org/other-news/iai-and-india-ink-93-million-deal-for-additional-missile-deliveries
$93M follow-on contract for additional missile deliveries to India
- src-05Crediblehttps://www.janes.com/defence-intelligence-insights/defence-news/indian-army-leases-four-heron-tp-uavs-from-israel
Indian Army leases four Heron TP UAVs from Israel for LAC deployment
- src-06Crediblehttps://theprint.in/defence/indian-army-will-soon-get-4-heron-tp-drones-on-lease-from-israel-plans-to-deploy-them-at-lac/665981
Confirms 4 Heron TP drone lease and LAC deployment plans
- src-07Crediblehttps://www.jpost.com/international/india-buys-4-heron-mk-ii-drones-for-surveillance-in-ladakh-680589
India buys 4 Heron Mk II drones for Ladakh surveillance
- src-08Crediblehttps://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-moves-to-procure-more-heron-mk-ii-drones-post-operation-sindoor-9732502
India moves to procure more Heron Mk-II post Operation Sindoor
- src-09Crediblehttps://www.insightsonindia.com/2025/05/09/harop-drones
Harop drones used in Operation Sindoor strikes on Lahore air defence
- src-10Crediblehttps://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-730812
IAI 30+ years partnership with India per IAI CEO Boaz Levy
- src-11Officialhttps://bel-india.in/news-bel/bel-iai-israel-form-joint-venture-company
BEL-IAI JV formation for air-defence co-production
- src-12Crediblehttps://www.edrmagazine.eu/%E2%96%BA-iai-announces-a-new-subsidiary-located-in-new-delhi-india-aerospace-services-india-asi-will-provide-product-life-cycle-support-services-for-the-air-defense-systems
IAI opens Aerospace Services India (ASI) subsidiary in New Delhi for product life-cycle support
- src-13Crediblehttps://www.financialexpress.com/business/defence-iai-sets-up-its-indian-subsidiary-asi-3438475
IAI operationalises AeroSpace Services India subsidiary under Make in India
- src-14Officialhttps://www.iai.co.il/press/iai-and-dcx-announce-the-establishment-of-a-new-jv-in-india
IAI and DCX announce new JV in India (loitering munitions)
- src-15Indicativehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Aerospace_Industries
Background on $1.1B AWACS EL/W-2090 contract (March 2004)
- src-16Indicativehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barak_8
Barak-8 background - joint IAI-DRDO development