The Colombian Air Force has agreed, on December 30, with the company Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) the purchase of the Barak MX air defense system system. The contract, which amounts to $ 131,200,000 – through process No. 23-2022 MDN-FAC – has a deadline for execution and total payment by September 30, 2026, as confirmed to this newspaper by financial specialist Diego Alvarado.
This process is based on the need to equip the Integral National Air Defense System (Sisdan) with a missile system and within the construction of minimum deterrent capabilities of the Integral National Defense System (Siden). Already last May, the Colombian Armed Forces had given the go-ahead to the acquisition of the Israeli system, as reported at the time Infodefensa.com.
The Barak MX is an integralsystem of air defense of medium and long range of vector thrust, in margins ranging from 500 meters to 30, 70 and 150 kilometers (according to the requirements of its operator), at heights of up to 16 kilometers and composed of a command and control post, a radar and four batteries with a total of eight launchers, having its missile 4.5 meters long by 2.25 in diameter and weighing 275 kilograms. IAI’s system can detect, identify and shoot down aircraft, UAVs and missiles, with short and highly effective response times, thanks to speeds of up to mach 2.