Hyderabad: BDL to make British air defence system

Hyderabad: Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Thales signed a Teaming agreement to work in partnership on the STARStreak Air Defence System with the support of both the Indian and the UK governments.

The Teaming Agreement signed at a virtual ceremony held on Wednesday, will facilitate manufacture of STARStreak Air Defence System in India, BDL said on Thursday.

The STARStreak Missile System is in service in the British Army and has been procured by defence forces worldwide. The fastest missile in its category, STARStreak is unique due to its three laser-guided darts, which cannot be jammed by any known countermeasure. It has the capability to defeat any air target - even armoured helicopters - as the last line of defence.

BDL's Director (Technical) NP Diwakar, Thales CEO Alex Cresswell and Thales Vice President and Country Director, India, Emmanuel de Roquefeuil signed the agreement in the presence of BDL Chairman and Managing Director, Commodore Siddharth Mishra (retd),UK Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin and UK Defence and Security Exports head mark Goldsack.

BDL, in a statement said that as a part of its global outreach, it is trying to forge alliance with foreign companies to take the 'Make in India' mission further.

Earlier, Thales and BDL had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to assess the opportunity for the transfer of technology for STARStreak.

"Today's agreement will also provide opportunity for BDL to offer STARStreak missile system to the Indian armed forces with a minimum of 60 per cent indigenous content, as well as design and development of the system, qualifying it under the 'Make in India' programme," it said.

Cresswell said that the BDL manufactured system will be exported to various countries including UK. He said that this is good news for Thales business in Belfast in Northern Ireland, for the strong supply chain of UK SMEs with whom it works and for its teams in India.