Thales, Bharat Dynamics MoU On STARStreak Missile For India

India’s Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Thales to assess the opportunity for the transfer of technology of the STARStreak missile capability to India with the support of United Kingdom (UK).

The MoU was signed in the presence of Ms Harriet Baldwin, MP, Minister for Defence Procurement for the UK Government at Aero India 2017, Thales announced today.

Through this MoU, Thales and BDL seek to jointly offer a “Make in India” solution to help service growing international demand for this product.

The STARStreak missile is in service in the UK army and has been procured by the defence forces of a number of countries worldwide.

The fastest missile in its category, STARStreak is equipped with three laser-guided darts, which cannot be jammed by any known counter measure.

The three-dart ‘hittile’ configuration maximises lethality and the highly-accurate laser beam riding guidance enables engagement of low-signature targets and is immune to all known counter measures.

STARStreak has already been integrated with a wide range of Radar, IR Sensors, and Command and Control systems. It can be used in a Man Portable Air Defence System (MANPADS) role as a single or multi-launcher configuration and is also available integrated into both light and heavy High Mobility Vehicles.

The missile has the capability to defeat any air target, even armoured helicopters as the last line of defence.

Thales is investing in the transfer of technology to India for the STARStreak missile. In the spirit of cooperation between the two countries, including under the Indo-UK Defence Equipment Cooperation MoU, this initiative has the support of UK government.

The association will play a strategic role not only in supporting the “Make in India” vision of the India but also in giving a boost to the bilateral relations between India and the UK.

Alex Cresswell, Executive Vice President for Land & Air Systems activities at Thales, said “Sharing technology has been one of the key ingredients of Thales’ strategy for India."