`Make in India': Bharat Dynamics, UK's MBDA sign deal to produce ASRAAM missile
Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and MBDA of United Kingdom (UK) has signed a licensing agreement to establish a facility for the Final Assembly, Integration and Test (FAIT) of Advanced Short Range AirtoAir Missile (ASRAAM) in India on Tuesday.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 18 Aug 2021 4:45 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and MBDA of United Kingdom (UK) has signed a licensing agreement to establish a facility for the Final Assembly, Integration and Test (FAIT) of Advanced Short Range AirtoAir Missile (ASRAAM) in India on Tuesday.
MBDA UK is the British subsidiary of the pan-European missile systems company MBDA. Formed in 2001, the company has produced a range of missile systems, including the CAMM missile family, Storm Shadow cruise missile, ASRAAM air-to-air missile, and Meteor beyond-visual-range missile.
The agreement was signed by NP Diwakar, Director (Technical), from BDL and George Kyriakides, International Industrial Cooperation Director from MBDA in the presence of Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, BDL at a virtual ceremony.
Under the licensing agreement, MBDA will transfer the equipment and knowledge to BDL for establishing the facility. Work on establishing this capability in India is due to start immediately and is expected to commence operations by the year 2022-23, BDL said in a release here.
Speaking on the occasion, Siddharth Mishra stated that the signing of the licencing agreement reinforces the Company's commitment to contribute towards 'Make in India' and the 'Atmanirbhar' initiatives of Government of India in the Defence sector.
ASRAAM is one of the `Within Visual Range Missiles' available and BDL will be manufacturing these at its Bhanur Unit for the domestic and export in the future through MBDA.
The new facility will provide India with the ability to carry out the final assembly, integration, and test of ASRAAM missiles. BDL has been endeavoring to enter into tie-ups with foreign OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) in pursuit of its expansion programme.
The agreement signed with MBDA today is one such effort, which will go a long way in further strengthening the collaboration, which BDL has with MBDA for its various missile programmes.
