Defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Ltd and Thales have signed a Teaming Agreement to work in partnership on the STARStreak Air Defence system, with the support of the Governments of India and the UK.

N P Diwakar, Director (Technical), BDL, Alex Cresswell, CEO Thales, in the UK and Emmanuel de Roquefeuil, VP and Country Director, Thales in India, signed the teaming agreement in a virtual ceremony in the presence of Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, BDL.

Jeremy Quin, Minister for Defence Procurement, Government of UK, and Mark Goldsack, Head of UK Defence & Security Exports, UK graced the occasion.

With this, BDL will become a part of the STARStreak global supply chain, with the opportunity to export the system to existing and future customers, including the UK Armed Forces.

As a part of its Global Outreach, BDL is looking to forge alliances with foreign companies to take the ‘Make in India’ mission ahead. 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 allow BDL to offer the 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.

The agreement also represents an opportunity for industrial cooperation between the UK and India and will facilitate closer collaboration and co-development between industries of the two nations.

Mishra said, “The partnership between Thales and BDL with Transfer of Technology for STARStreak, will create a new business opportunity for BDL and its Supply Chain Partners in India. BDL will be able to enhance its footprint in the export and domestic markets with this new business opportunity.”

“The Government’s ‘Make in India’ programme, the ‘ease of doing business’ and recent ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives have created a congenial ecosystem for foreign OEMs to tie up with Indian Industries like BDL to establish production facilities in India,” he added.

Alex Cresswell, CEO, Thales in the UK said, “Today’s signing is a significant milestone for all parties concerned and look forward to Thales and BDL developing a close working relationship. BDL manufactured systems will be exported to various countries, including the UK."

This is good news for Thales’ business in Belfast in Northern Ireland, for the supply chain of UK SMEs with whom it works and for its teams in India, he said.

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, has 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.

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