New Delhi: Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) and Thales (A French multinational company) have signed a Teaming Agreement to work in partnership on the STARStreak Air Defence system with the support of both the governments of India and the United Kingdom (UK). The agreement has been signed at a virtual ceremony held on January 13. BDL's Director (Technical) NP Diwakar, Thales's CEO Alex Cresswell in the UK and Thales in India's VP & Country Director Emmanuel de Roquefeuil signed the agreement in the presence of BDL's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd.), Minister for Defence Procurement, the government of UK Jeremy Quin and Head of UK Defence & Security Exports, Government of UK Mark Goldsack graced the occasion.
Importantly, BDL will be given transfer of technology (TOT) for STARStreak project which makes it an altogether different ball-game for the defence PSU.
BDL will become a part of the STARStreak global supply chain, providing the opportunity for export of the system to existing and future STARStreak Air Defence customers, including the UK Armed Forces through this agreement. BDL, as a part of its Global Outreach, is endeavouring to forge an alliance with foreign companies to take the 'Make in India' mission further.
Earlier, Thales and BDL have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to assess the opportunity for the transfer of technology for STARStreak. The signing of this teaming agreement confirms a positive outcome from that exploration process.
Thursday's agreement will also provide the opportunity for BDL to offer STARStreak missile system to the Indian Armed Forces with a minimum of 60 percent of 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 UK and India and will facilitate for closer collaboration and co-development between industries of the two nations.
Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd), in his address, stated that "partnership between Thales and BDL in this project 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 footprints in the export market in addition to the domestic market with this new business opportunity." "The Government of India's 'Make in India' programme, the 'ease of doing business' and recent 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiatives have created a congenial ecosystem for the foreign OEMs to tie up with Indian Industries like BDL to establish the production facility in India," he added.
BDL, as a part of its Global Outreach, is endeavouring to forge an alliance with foreign companies to take the 'Make in India' mission further- BDL Mgmt
While Alex Cresswell stated that "Today's signing is a significant milestone for all parties concerned and look forward to Thales and BDL developing a close working relationship. He brought out that BDL manufactured system will be exported to various countries including UK. He noted that this is good news for Thales business in Belfast in Northern Ireland, for the strong supply chain of UK SMEs with whom it works and for its teams in India."
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 is unique due to its 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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