LTMMSL to Set-up Missile Integration Facility in Tamil Nadu
India’s multinational engineering conglomerate, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), along with MBDA, the European manufacturer of missiles, has set up a Missile Integration facility in Tamil Nadu on February 3, 2020 under their joint venture L&T MBDA Missile Systems (LTMMSL).
The facility which has been set up in a Special Economic Zone in Coimbatore across an area of 16,000 sq. metre allows assembly, inert integration and testing facility for Missile Sub-systems and Missile Weapon Launch Systems.
Inert refers to systems integration process without explosive component of the missile systems being handled at the facility, which was set up with the aim of attracting the domestic as well as the global market.
The LTMMSL, which has 51 percent stakes of the L&T and 49 percent that of the MBDA has received a few export orders. The new facility delivers state-of-the-art test equipment such as Missile Launchers and Airframe segments, including control auction units from CY 2020.
J D Patil, Chairman L&T MBDA Missile Systems, said that they have been proactively offering advanced missiles and missile systems to the Indian Armed Forces through domestic production and that the creation of this new integration facility was the first step in the direction.
The future projects of the venture include Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile System (SRSAM) for the Indian Navy, the Exocet MM 40 Block 3 anti-ship missile and the 5th Generation Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM5) with next generation technologies of the MMP battlefield anti-tank weapon that have already entered France, for the Indian Armed Forces.
ATGM5 will be Indian Designed, Developed and Manufactured (IDDM) product with transfer of key technologies to India.
Pasquale Di Bartolomeo, Vice Chairman and Member of the Board L&T MBDA Missile Systems said, “The setting up of this new state-of-the-art facility in Coimbatore is an exciting and highly significant milestone for the L&T MBDA Missile Systems joint venture and for the Indian Defence industry sector. With the technical and human capabilities offered by this site, India will be ideally placed to offer its armed forces and the export market the very latest generation of defence equipment technology.”