By Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Director – India, Thales
Bangalore. 13 February 2023. The Indian Defence and Aerospace sector is undergoing a significant wave of indigenisation, boosted by the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ vision of the Government of India. The Government policies and industrial collaborations are enabling the country to move towards self-reliance in defence technology.
Thales, celebrating its 70 year long and proud journey in India this year, is a strong supporter of the government’s ambitions. It has been a trusted partner to India’s growth story by sharing its innovative technologies and expertise across defence, aerospace, transportation, and digital identity & security markets.
Building on its global prowess in technology, the organisation has been proudly supporting the modernisation efforts of the Indian armed forces, enabling them to maintain tactical superiority over any form of risk, with the purpose of building a future that all can trust.
Capabilities to add strength to the Indian Armed Forces
Globally, Thales provides a wide range of products and services to aid the armed forces in achieving and sustaining operational superiority. To serve India’s ambitions in defence and aerospace, Thales has created an industrial ecosystem consisting of over 75 supply chain partners. This also includes partnerships with public and private sector enterprises such as joint ventures with Bharat Electronics Ltd and Reliance Aerostructures Ltd, partnership with Bharat Dynamics Limited for STARStreak / laser beam riding MANPAD system (LBRMS), long-term association with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for avionics, among others. Through this ecosystem, Thales has developed substantial and diverse skill sets in India to cater to programmes in India and rest of the world. Thales and its joint ventures employ more than 1,800 people in India. The organisation is growing its presence in the country by continuing to hire and develop more talent in high-tech roles.
In addition, Thales has been fortifying the local engineering R&D capabilities through our competence centres in Noida and Bangalore. Thales’s engineering centre in Bangalore specializes in defence and aerospace, and is working on high-value software areas like air traffic management, complicated avionics systems, cockpit, flight management, connectivity and video systems, and radar softwares. And, the engineeering centre in Noida focuses on digital activities such as data protection & encryption, cybersecurity, biometrics, among others.
Adding teeth to the Indian defence and aerospace sector
A member of the Rafale team led by Dassault Aviation, Thales provides several state-of-the-art equipments and systems aboard the Rafale such as the AESA RBE2 radar, the SPECTRA electronic warfare suite for 360° detection and action modes, advanced man-machine interface with displays in the cockpit, missile electronics, the front-sector optronic with infrared search and track systems FSO-IRST, the CNI suite (communication, navigation, and identification), as well as power generation systems and a logistics support component.
We have several such successful references with the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, and Indian Army, and others, built over the last 70 years in India. We are committed to take this proud legacy forward and be part of the new India growth story.
Thales has also been actively contributing to India’s aviation sector with its services and solutions including the retrofit of avionics to Air India, critical avionics to IndiGo, and navigational aids to Airport Authority of India, among others. It is bringing its technology prowess in UAVs and Counter-UAV measures to support the burgeoning drone focus in the country.
‘Make in India’ spotlight at Aero India 2023
At Aero India this year, we will bring a spotlight on a range of our cutting-edge technologies across the sectors of land, air, naval defence, as well as space and our ‘Make in India for India and for the world’ strategy. Some of these include our air defence systems like LBRMS, Lightweight Multi-role Missiles, and Free Fall Lightweight Multi-role Missile, a high-performing, lightweight, precision strike missile designed to be fired from tactical platforms like fixed or rotary winged UAVs and surface platforms, amongst other demos across Connectivity, Optronics, Armaments and Ammunition, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. Thales is committed to contribute to the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” vision of the government by bolstering its local teams, collaborations, and innovation in the future as well.
