UAE receives Israeli-made Barak air defence system: report

An Israeli-made Barak air defence system has been deployed to the United Arab Emirates, Breaking Defense reported on Wednesday.

Unnamed defence sources told the news website that the deployment is just the beginning of a bigger contract for more systems.

“This is going to be a very big contract, as the Emiratis need a large number [of systems] to protect some of their sensitive sites that have been hit again and again by missiles launched by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Iranian proxy in the region,” Breaking Defense quoted one of the sources as saying.

The report did not specify which model of the Barak system was deployed.

The UAE has moved to bolster its air defence capabilities after a series of missile and drone strikes on the Gulf state in January and February. Most of the attacks were intercepted, but a strike killed three civilians in Abu Dhabi.

Since normalising ties in 2020, the UAE and Israel have worked to boost cooperation in a number of fields, including security.

Morocco, which also normalised ties under the 2020 Abraham Accords, agreed earlier this year to purchase Israel Aerospace Industries’ BARAK MX Integrated Air & Missile Defence System in a deal worth over half a billion dollars.

Palestinians have condemned normalisation deals between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco as a betrayal of their cause.