Inaugurating the Indian subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries: From left: Oded Yaakobovitc Chairman of the Board, Aerospace Services India (ASI), Boaz Levy President and CEO Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd (IAI) and Danny Lauber, CEO ASI / IAI handout

Global leader in defence and aerospace – Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) -- has opened an Indian subsidiary – Aerospace Services India (ASI) -- based in Delhi, to bolster its collaboration in  missiles and other weapon systems with Indian  defence industry and R&D establishments.

The parent company has worked with Indian partners like the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Bharat Dynamics Ltd (BDL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL)  for 30 years. In recent years it has partnered with India in developing the Barak-8  ship-launched Surface to Air Missile (SAM)  and  jointly developed the tri-services  (army, navy, air force) Medium Range SAM (MRSAM) with DRDO.

The MRSAM system includes an advanced phased array radar, command and control, mobile launchers, and interceptors with an advanced Radio Frequency seeker The quick reaction, vertically launched supersonic missile with a pre-fragment warhead, which has a range of 70 kms, is manufactured partly at Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems and finally integrated at BDL, both units in Hyderabad.  The key electronic and radar support systems are manufactured by  another PSU, BEL, while the Mobile Launcher System (MLS) for MRSAM Weapon System, a vehicle mounted platform for Launching MRSAM missiles, housing the Launch Control System (LCS), up to eight (8) canisterised Missiles (CMs) and Intra Fire Unit communication system is sourced from Tata Advanced Systems.
 

The Army version of the Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM), jointly developed by India and Israel / DRDO

All these agencies stand to gain with the setting up of ASI in India, which currently has some 50 employees, almost all of them Indians.   It can significantly reduce turnaround times for repairs and service operations, ensuring swift and efficient product support.  And by operating locally, ASI is committed to reducing the cost of services and repairs.

IAI's President and CEO, Boaz Levy said: “IAI proudly presents ASI as our first major milestone towards India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat vision on self-reliance.  India and Israel’s partnership has witnessed state-of-the-art achievement. This growth and development will create history when our two nations will foster IAI’s technology and India’s talent and expertise in the Defence sector. Together we will make Bharat atmanirbhar”

Added  Danny Lauber, CEO Aerospace Services India (ASI): “IAI has worked closely with our Indian partners collaborating on some of the latest technologies. Our new ASI office will allow us to further that commitment. We have a fabulous team of local professionals, and we are working together with our partners in the public and private sectors on the ground.”

 In an interview with LiveMint last week,  Lauber revealed that ASI also plans to set up a large-scale hub for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of defence equipment in Gurugram. Initially, the MRO hub will cover the maintenance and repair aspect for the entire MRSAM system.

 In 2022, the parent Israeli company, IAI, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) to convert civilian passenger aircraft to multi-mission tanker transport (MMTT) aircraft. In February 2023, IAI signed an  agreement with BEL  to form a joint venture that will extend life cycle support services for MRSAM air-defence systems in the country.