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 William
Blair, Vice President and Senior Executive for
Raytheon’s business development efforts in India
is responsible for managing the company’s strategic
relationships with customers and trading partners
to ensure ac continuation of its long standing
relationship with India. In an exclusive interview
with India Strategic, he spells out Raytheon’s
‘battle plan’ for India, particularly the weapons
fit and an AESA radar if the Indian Air Force
(IAF) chooses one of the two US contenders in
the fray, the F/A 18 E/F Super Hornet or the F
16 IN Super Viper.
Q. How successful have
you been in selling Javelin to India through FMS?
A. Javelin is a versatile, one-man portable anti-tank
guided missile and surveillance weapon system
made by Javelin Joint Venture, a partnership between
Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin. Javelin
has been deployed by the US Army and Marine Corps
and in service in armies of 12 countries. It is
combat proven, and has been used extensively in
Iraq and Afghanistan against heavy armor, light
armor, buildings and personnel. The Javelin team
is committed to working with the Indian Ministry
of Defense Army and industry partners to facilitate
in transfer of technology while supporting the
efforts of the Indian and US Governments to deploy
the Javelin system to the Indian Army. We recognize
that transfer of technology is the next critical
step toward establishing a trusted partnership
in India and are working closely with the US government
to address key technology release regulations.
The deal is still being worked out.
Q. Is the supply of APY-10
radars for Indian Navy’s P8I over?
A. Raytheon is the radar provider for the Indian
P-8I maritime surveillance platform and recently
received a contract award which was announced
at Farnborough. The program continues to move
forward and is the first international contract
for Raytheon’s APY-10 program, extending the company
’ s considerable presence in the international
maritime surveillance market. The APY-10 radar
delivers accurate and actionable information in
all weather, day and night, for anti-submarine
and anti-surface warfare and for intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance mission support.
This is the first international contract award
for Raytheon’s APY-10 program, extending the company’s
considerable presence in the international maritime
surveillance market. Our APY-10 radar will provide
the Indian Navy with proven, low-risk technology
built on generations of successful Raytheon radar
systems. We’re committed to providing reliable
systems that keep our customers safe and help
them achieve mission success.
Q. Does Raytheon have any
modernisation and networkcentric projects with
Airport Authority of India?
A. Yes. Raytheon is currently engaged in a maintenance
support contract for the Delhi and Mumbai AutoTrac
systems; a supply, installation, test and commissioning
(SITC) contract for a Remote ATC Situation Awareness
Monitoring in Delhi; and a SITC contract for an
AutoTrac system to Chennai. All these are part
of AAI modernisation plan and comprise network
centric solutions.
Q. What are the Raytheon-
Tata and Raytheon-L&T collaborations working on
at the moment?
A. Raytheon is committed to building strong alliances
with local businesses in India. Raytheon is actively
building alliances in India and has already established
strong ties with organizations such as Larsen
& Toubro, Precision Electronics, TATA Power SED
and Grintex, among others. Along these lines,
the MMRCA effort has developed a number of important
and long-term opportunities. Specifically, Raytheon
has signed various MoUs with Indian companies,
which were though originally put into place in
support of the MMRCA program. While that program
has not yet been decided by India, Raytheon has
continued to develop relationships with these
industry partners. Through this work, there is
a real opportunity for Indian companies that successfully
complete Raytheon’s rigorous supplier qualification
process, to gain access to our extensive global
supply chain opportunities in the future. We’re
excited about the prospects that MMRCA, as well
as other opportunities in India, offer to Raytheon
and its partners in the region.
Our work with L&T is one example of how we can
meet India’s combat vehicle modernization needs
and build on an already strong partnership with
Indian industry. For the Army’s T-72 Upgrade Program,
Raytheon has teamed with Larsen and Toubro (L&T),
one of India’s largest private sector companies.
L&T has worked closely with the Army on many successful
programs, and their in-depth knowledge of the
customer and the Indian market is a strong complement
to our extensive fire control, thermal imaging,
and tank integration experience. In pursuit of
this program, L&T is functioning as the Prime
Contractor, and Raytheon is a subcontract supplier
of key components of the T-72 fire control system.
In addition, we have a long history working
together with the Tata companies and are currently
working with Tata Power SED on the Modernization
of Airport Infrastructure (MAFI) proposal to the
Indian Air Force for the current requirements
as well as potential expanded scope in the future.
This delivers value by leveraging our existing
presence in India in the Civil Air Traffic Management
for Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai considering the
challenges in managing common airspace over India.
Q. Has Raytheon targeted
the Indian Homeland Security and paramilitary
forces market?
A. Raytheon has a broad range of capabilities
that could support homeland security requirements
in India. As one example, we are actively looking
for opportunities to market and demonstrate the
for Boeing Defense, Space and Security, India.
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