DRDO, MBDA Sign MoU For India's Air Defense Project

India's Defence Researsch and Development Organisation (DRDO) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with French-firm MBDA to jointly work on Short Range-Surface to Air Missile (SR-SAM).

The announcement was made in a written statement by Defence Minister AK Antony to the Parliament. 

DRDO has already completed development of Akash - Medium Range Surface to Air Missile. The Indian Air Force and Army have placed production order with Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL).

Akash is a Medium Range Surface to Air Missile system with a range 25 km and command based guidance system, whereas SR-SAM is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile system with a range of 15 km and seeker based guidance system. Therefore, it may not be appropriate to compare the costs of two different missile systems.

The Government of India and Government of France have signed an Agreement on Defence Co-operation on 20th February 2006 and Technical Agreement between Ministry of Defence of India and Ministry of Defence of Republic of France was signed on 25th April 2007. This reason has nominated MBDA as a Joint Development partner.