MBDA awaits nod to design, produce surface-to-air missiles

Even as European missile major MBDA has announced a joint venture with L&T to develop and supply fifth generation anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), the company is awaiting a nod from India’s Defence Ministry to finalise negotiations to design and co-produce short range surface-to-air missiles (SRSAMs) in India.

The missile developer and manufacturer is keen to offer advanced technology transfer here.

SRSAM systems will technically replace the Indian Navy’s Israeli Barak-1 air defence systems.

Weighing around 100 kg, SRSAM is a Mach 3-class missile, with a range of 40 km, and is normally used for naval air defence applications. Full SRSAM systems comprise missile launchers, radar sensors, and combat management systems.

India had finalised a missile co-development project with France to manufacture a range of SRSAMs for the armed forces almost ten years ago.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the lead organisation for the design and development of the SRSAM for the Indian Navy, while Bharat Dynamics is the ministry’s missile production enterprise.

In an interaction with BusinessLine here in late January, Loic Piedevache, Country Head (India), MBDA Group, said that though discussions regarding the SRSAM had reached the last stage, they were yet to get a final approval. Stating that MBDA has been in India for more than four decades and has been supplying the Indian Army with well-known missiles like the MILAN, MICA, ASRAAM, MISTRAL among others, the official said the defence major is looking forward to the SRSAM deal.

“SRSAM for the Indian Navy is a co-development project with DRDO. Here, DRDO is the lead agency and MBDA is a strategic and key partner,” Piedevache explained, accompanied by senior officials in Mumbai.

The official said MBDA is keen to offer future missiles like the ATGM “with the latest technologies for Indian requirements. We could have the same approach with our new technologies, just like the SRSAM.”

Missile Moyenne Portee (MMP) is a portable anti-tank guided missile. “The MMP is the 5th generation ATGM which has been ordered by the French government, using the very latest technologies. We know there is a requirement in India for an ATGM, but different from the French one,” said the official.

MMP is a vital addition to MBDA’s range of battlefield systems. It can be fired from confined spaces and against non-line of sight targets.

Suitable for a wide range of battlefield targets – from tanks to infrastructures – as well as platforms from portable firing posts to vehicles and army aviation platforms, MMP’s architecture and technologies have been recognised with a contract placed for the French army.

MMP is a land combat missile system designed for dismounted infantry as well as for integration on combat vehicles. Featuring both ‘fire-and-forget’ and ‘man-in-the-loop’ operation, the network-enabled MMP’s design includes the growth potential necessary for a future family of missiles for modern land combat.

MMP will replace the Milan and Javelin anti-tank missiles in service with the French Army and special forces from 2017.

Stating that the MMP would need to be “co-developed in India using our existing technolgies”, Piedevache said MBDA could co-develop it with India on the same scheme as the SRSAM.

“We could co-develop a new missile, manufactured in India for specific Indian requirement,” he said, referring to one that would be designed to meet India’s specific operational parameters such as range, launch platform and warhead type. The JV with L&T announced on February 13 is further set to cement this.