India, France to float joint venture to make SAMs

A K DharParis, Jun 22 (PTI) India and France may soon join hands to make the latest variants of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) with a lethal hundred per cent kill probability, on the lines of the highly successful Indo-Russian Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.The proposed joint venture, for which intense groundwork has been done by the missile industry officials from both countries, could take shape in a year's time.The name of the new series of lethal co-produced missile has been proposed as 'Maitri' and it aims to fulfil the demand of the Army, Navy and Air Force in India for procuring thousands of such missiles to cover up the "yawning" gap in country's air defence.India is currently in the process of replacing its entire range of surface-to-air missile defence system to weed out the ageing SAM series of missile procured from the erstwhile Soviet Union in the late 60's and 70's.The procurement of the new range of such missiles is to give more foolproof and vibrant defending capabilities to the nation's vital assets, VVIP complexes as well as provide mobile air cover to troops in operations."Our missile industry officials are in intense negotiations with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and India's sole missile producer, Hyderabad-based Bharat Dynamics Limited for setting up of such a joint venture," Antoine Bouvier, CEO of the Euorpean Missile Consortium MBDA, told Indian newsmen here.The French proposal comes as the Indian Army recently floated a 2 billion Euro contract for purchasing 1,000 short- range quick reaction missiles. PTI