ADVERTISING: Israeli Arms Manufacturer Lures India, Or At Least, It Tries

One of Israel's major arms manufacturing companies, Rafael, thought the smartest way to attract the Indians to buy their new weapons system would be to produce a Bollywood style video advertisement. I ran into this video as I was reading the Switchblog:

Defence Professionals, a website that covers international defence community, says in this article that India has been shifting its arms supply from Russia to Israel in recent years.

In 2008, Rafael won a contract worth some $ 340 million to provide 18 Spyder- short-range air defense systems as the Indian Air Force’s low-level quick reaction missile system (LLQRM). The Israeli company is now pushing the Spyder MR (medium-range) variant of the missile, with a range of 35 kilometers, as the Indian Army’s next Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) as well as the Spike MANPAD missile system.

According to the Campaign Against Arms Trade, Rafael currently works with several big arms manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. More here:

Rafael expects orders worth $600m for Gill/Spike from Europe and seems likely to get them as the Netherlands, Finland and Poland ⁹ have already ordered the weapon. Gill/Spike is also operational in Singapore. ¹⁰

Other Rafael exports include the Barak ship-borne anti-missile system to Chile and Singapore,¹¹Popeye missiles to South Korea, ¹²and a co-production agreement with Turkey for Popeye II missiles.¹³

And now India. Wonder if the video sealed the deal.

Please post your thoughts below.