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An agreement between the Defence Research and
Development Organisation (DRDO) and MBDA Missile
Systems to design and co-produce SR-SAMs (Short
Range Surface-to-Air Missiles) is expected to
be inked shortly. While addressing a group of
Indian journalists recently at the missile production
and integration facilities of MBDA Germany at
Schrobenhausen, 90 km from Munich, Vice-president
Operations of MBDA Germany Walter Stammler reiterated
that MBDA had a product for India’s each
and every need and wanted this relationship to
be cemented for times to come.
MBDA is anxiously awaiting India’s response
to its offer of air-to-ground PARS 3 LR missile
and is hopeful of being the chosen one. Stammler
informed that during field evaluation trials of
the weapon in Sweden in 2012 for the Indian Army
and HAL officials, all requirements were fulfilled
and the missile will be a perfect fit on India’s
Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv. To meet Indian
requirements for the PARS 3 LR missile, a twin-launcher
was designed and developed in collaboration with
an Indian SME. Four launchers, each carrying two
missiles, will be mounted on the helicopter and
the prototype of the twin launcher was seen by
HAL officials post the field trials.
Walter Mackrodt, the project manager of PARS
3LR Munition, said that the high-precision fire-and-forget
weapon could be fired in salvo mode from the helicopter,
and four missiles could be launched in 10 seconds
to engage as many targets.
Meanwhile a long standing relationship is of
TDW, a subsidiary of MBDA, which has a license
agreement with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) for
producing warheads for anti-tank guided Milan
missiles. Under the agreement signed in 2007,
it had transferred the know-how to BDL to produce
warheads for Milan. BDL has so far produced 1,
2 and 2T versions of the missile. India’s
Defence Acquisition Council recently approved
procurement of additional Milan 2T portable anti-tank
missiles for the infantry. This, when the original
manufacturer has moved to a more advanced extended
range (ER) version of the missile.
TDW is the acknowledged European number one
Warhead Systems Expert with a track record of
55 years of experience and more than 2 million
produced warheads (from 18 g to 550 kg high explosive
mass). It has already helped make 7,000 kits with
BDL and a contract for 5,000 more is in the offing
for which deep discussions with India are on.
Olaf Borsutzky, Incharge of Tests & Trials
informed that TDW is Design Authority for the
blast fragmentation warhead for the Advanced Short
Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM) made by MBDA-UK
and does its work share and technology transfer
to an Indian Company. TDW is Design Authority
for the tandem shaped charge warhead system including
the optronic distance sensor (for trigger signal)
of PARS 3 LR, another India connection.
Over the past years, the company has invested
over €60 million in expanding and modernising
its Schrobenhausen site. The competencies that
the company has acquired in the air and missile
defence sector over the past five decades, makes
it a technology and systems leader in Germany.
It has orders for programmes like MEADS, Patriot,
Stinger, Roland and Gepard, not to mention RAM
and ESSM that have enabled them to compile such
unique know-how. In addition to the new simulation
and integration centre, the company’s facilities
also comprise the test centre in Freinhausen and
the laser weapons test facility. MBDA Germany
has not only been the home of the Test and Reference
Facility (TuRA) for Germany’s Patriot systems
but for the complete European market of these
missiles.
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