India and France may soon join hands to make the latest variants of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a lethal 100% kill probability
PARIS: India and France may soon join hands to make the latest variants of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a lethal 100% kill probability, on the lines of the highly successful Indo-Russian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.
The proposed joint venture, for which intense groundwork has been done by missile industry officials from both countries, could take shape in a year. The missile, named ‘Maitri’, aims to fulfil the demand of the Army, Navy and Air Force in India to cover up the “yawning” gap in country’s air defences.
India is currently in the process of replacing its entire range of surface-to-air missile defence system to weed out ageing SAM missiles procured from the erstwhile Soviet Union in the late 60’s and 70’s.
The procurement of the new range of such missiles is to give more foolproof and vibrant defending capabilities to the nation’s vital assets, VVIP complexes as well as provide mobile air cover to troops in operations. “Our missile industry officials are in intense negotiations with Defence Research and Development Organisation and India’s sole missile producer, Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Limited for setting up of such a joint venture,” Antoine Bouvier, CEO of the European Missile Consortium MBDA, said here.
“It will be an effort to re-use existing technology capabilities in the two countries,”
Bouvier said, emphasising the ‘Maitri’ range of missiles, under the proposed joint venture, would be made in India. “There is total French political support for such ventures with India,” he added during the just concluded Eurosatory-2008, the European Defence Exhibition for land combat systems.
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