Expanding joint development and production efforts on weaponry and military equipment will be among the key topics during talks between Rosoboronexport (part of the Rostec State Corporation) and Indian partners at the Land, Naval & Internal Homeland Security Systems Exhibition DEFEXPO India 2014 to be held from 6 to 9 February in Delhi.
“This is India’s biggest arms exhibition and therefore Russia will be presented here on a large scale. Clearly, we’re planning to promote a large number of army and naval equipment, air defense systems and aircraft models at DEFEXPO India. Moreover, in almost all cases the upcoming talks are directly related to setting up joint ventures, establishing licensed production, and transfer of technology – precisely such cooperation is the mainstream of our bilateral relations,” - said Ivan Goncharenko, First Deputy General Director of Rosoboronexport, who heads the Company’s delegation at the exhibition.
As to army weaponry, Rosoboronexport will hold talks with Indian partners on current and future projects, including upgrading of previously delivered equipment, including the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, T-72 and the T-90S tanks.
The Company expects to discuss the progress of the tender to supply self-propelled artillery systems. Among its contenders is the Russian upgraded Msta-S 155mm self-propelled howitzer, which is undergoing trials in India. The howitzer’s chassis has a high level of commonality for components and units with the chassis of the T-90S MBT, whose licensed production has already been mastered at India’s Heavy Vehicles Factory in Avadi.
The ongoing work on setting up a Russian-Indian joint venture to manufacture rocket projectiles for the Smerch multiple launch rocket system may be considered a promising new area for mutually beneficial cooperation on army weapons.
It is expected that at DEFEXPO India foreign experts will show interest in the modernized T-90S MBT, T-90S-based engineer vehicles, BMPT-72 tank support combat vehicle, Sprut SD self-propelled anti-tank gun, tactical automated command & control system as well as Russian air defense weapons of all classes. Among the latter are the Pantsir-S1, Tor-M2KM, Tunguska-M1, and Igla-S, which Rosoboronexport is offering for the Indian Army’s tenders.
After-sales service of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya will be among the naval issues to be discussed at DEFEXPO India. In addition, Rosoboronexport is ready to continue consultations to promote the diesel-electric submarine Amur-1650 within the upcoming tender for design and construction of the Project 75I submarines for the Indian Navy, as well as to supply an additional series of Project 11356 frigates. Russian patrol and landing craft, ship weapon systems, Bal-E coastal missile system, and a variety of radar and sonar coastal zone surveillance systems have also good prospects in the Indian market.
In the aviation segment, of interest are the Ka-226T light utility helicopter, which is a strong contender in the Indian tender to supply 197 reconnaissance & surveillance helicopters, and the Be-200 multipurpose amphibious aircraft, which offers a number of advantages over the competitors within the upcoming Indian Navy’s tender to purchase amphibians for reconnaissance and search & rescue operations and transport service between the island territories.
Rosoboronexport, a subsidiary of the Rostec Corporation, is the sole state-owned arms trade company in the Russian Federation authorized to export the full range of military and dual-purpose products, technologies and services. Rosoboronexport is one of the leading world arms exporters to the international market. Its share in Russia's military exports exceeds 80 percent. Rosoboronexport cooperates with more than 700 enterprises and organizations in the Russian defence industrial complex. Russia maintains military technical cooperation with more than 70 countries around the world.
The Russian corporation Rostec was established in 2007 with the purpose to render assistance to industries in the development, production and export of high-technology military and civil-purpose products. It comprises 663 enterprises grouped into eight holding companies in the defence industrial complex, and five holding companies in civil industry branches. The Rostec subsidiaries are located in 60 regions of the Russian Federation, and export their products to more than 70 countries worldwide.