According to information published by the "Defence News" website on January 5, 2023, Colombia approved the purchase of the Israeli-made Barak-MX air defence missile system produced by IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) for an amount of $131.2 million.

Barak-MX is a derivative of the Barak-8 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, designed to defend against any type of airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, and UAVs as well as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat jets. Both maritime and land-based variants of the system exist.

Barak-8 was jointly developed by India's Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). The Barak-8 missile defence system is produced by Israel's Directorate of Research and Development (DDR&D), Elta Systems, Rafael Advanced Defence Systems and India's Bharat Dynamics limited (BDL). Unlike the Barak-8 system, the interceptors, and sensors of MX were developed exclusively by IAI to meet specific requirements from domestic and foreign customers

The Barak-MX is a new modular air defence solution developed by IAI able to engage and destroy modern aerial threats.

Citing information from Defence News, IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries) has also offered the naval variant of the Barak-MX to Colombia to equip five frigates the country plans to build locally under its PES program.

The Colombian Defence Ministry has a budget of approximately USD 10.9 billion, which is equivalent to roughly 12 percent of the total Colombian budget for 2022. While most of the defence budget will be designated for operational activities, such as payroll, procurement of basic goods and services, and pensions.

About four percent of the total budget (USD 528 million) will be invested in strengthening the security and strategic capacity of the Armed Forces, through the purchase of equipment, hardware, weapons, ammunition, and communication upgrades, and to carry out major scheduled maintenance or replacement for aging equipment.

In 2021 world military expenditure surpassed the two trillion US dollar mark for the first time, reaching $2113 billion. Global spending in 2021 was 0.7 percent higher than in 2020 and 12 percent higher than in 2012.

The Barak-MX is an advanced air defence missile system in the Barak family that broadens the Barak into a multi-layered air defence system employing unified smart launchers carrying Short, Medium, and Extended-Range interceptors.

The Barak-MX air defence missile system consists of three main components including the Battle Management Centre (BMC), which creates and manages a unified multi-sensor aerial picture, coordinates the force operation networks, and manages the launch arrays. The land-based versions are available in mobile, transportable, and stationary platforms.

The Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) units of the Barak-MX can launch three types of missiles including the BRAK MRAD (Short-Medium Range Missile) fitted with a single pulse rocket motor and has a maximum firing range of 35 km. The Barak LRAD is a Long-Range missile powered by a dual pulse rocket motor to reach a range of 70 km and the Barak-ER (Extended Range) missile with a dual pulse rocket motor and an additional booster offers the missile to reach a range of 150 km and enhanced TBM (Theatre Ballistic Missile) capabilities.