Thales and Bharat Dynamics Limited announced contract for supply of Laser Beam Riding Man Portable air defence missiles and launchers to Indian Army with initial lot to be delivered this year.

The agreement between Thales U.K and Bharat Dynamics Limited the supply of Laser Beam Riding Man Portable Air Defence (LBRM) Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) missiles and launchers to the Indian Army will be executed under the emergency procurement route and a limited volumes of launchers and missiles will be supplied this year, according to Pascale Sourisse, president and chief executive officer, Thales International. Ms. Sourisse further said that in the future, the numbers could potentially run into thousands of missiles.

The French electronics major, which plays a major role in the Rafale jet and the Scorpene-class conventional submarines, is also looking to significantly increase sourcing from India for its global supply chains and also double the headcount of engineers, currently at 1,600.

“We work in partnership and BDL will manufacture a number of elements reaching the 60% indigenous content. The contract that has been signed, actually, is the first step in the broader cooperation. We plan to continue to develop this cooperation with BDL in the field of VSHORAD. For the future, the scale that can be considered is thousands of missiles,” Ms. Sourisse said speaking to The Hindu at Aero India. This relationship with BDL, in future, would not be limited to serving the Indian needs, but also be used to serve the export markets from India,” she stated.

At the Aero India last week, Thales and defence public sector undertaking BDL announced the contract for VSHORAD systems for the Army. “Initial supply” of Starstreak high-velocity missiles and launchers will begin this year. The procurement will be made under the fourth tranche of emergency procurements, officials confirmed. Deliveries under the emergency procurement route should begin six months from signing of the contract and completed in a year.

Doubling headcount

The top executive also said Thales had used Aero India to enhance contact with potential new employees. “We have significant hiring needs.. This question of skills is extremely important.” She further said they have around 1,600 engineers in their engineering competence centres and plan on doubling the number in the coming years, which means hiring highly skilled people in India. “This corresponds to the trust we have in India to contribute to our activities globally,” she said.

Focus on localisation

Localisation was one of the focus areas during the air show, Ms. Sourisse stressed, adding that more recently, they had “accelerated approach to localising activities”. “This localisation effort that we have in India is really targeting both Indian needs and also export opportunities. It is Make in India, for India and the world,” Ms. Sourisse stated.

Elaborating, she said this would be done through three approaches. The first approach centres on their own resources, as Thales currently employs 2,200 people in India, with 70% of them being highly skilled engineers who work at its engineering competence centres in Noida and Bengaluru. The second comprises the various partnerships that Thales has with big Indian companies, including the Bharat Electronics Limited, BDL and those from the private sector. “The third element we have been very successful is the relationship with MSMEs [Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises] that are part of our supply chain. We have more than 75 companies that are part of the supply chain which supply not only for Indian customers but also for the global supply chain of Thales,” she said.

The company is also expanding footprint in civil aviation, and has decided to localise maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities in Gurugram to serve customers in civil aviation, particularly Air India. Thales has been selected by Air India for in-flight solutions for 51 aircraft.

Early this month, Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales and Leonardo of Italy, signed a contract with private sector player NIBE Space for the supply of a high-resolution optical satellite, for NIBE’s earth observation constellation project.

At the air show, the company announced that BEL had manufactured and delivered the 7,000th T/R (transmit/receive) module for the RBE2 AESA (active electronic scanning array) radar on board Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter jets. This transfer was initiated in 2017 and in November 2020, the first RBE2 radar with a front end manufactured by BEL in India was delivered by Thales to Dassault Aviation, a joint release said.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)