On 13th February, 2017, the respective heads of India’s Larsen & Toubro and Europe’s MBDA met to sign a Joint Venture agreement, thereby marking a highly significant moment in the advancement of India’s defence industry sector. The signature brought into being L&T MBDA Missile Systems Limited - a JV with the clear objective of developing, manufacturing and supplying highly advanced missiles and missile systems to the Indian armed forces. The creation of L&T MBDA Missile Systems Limited has brought together two global leaders in their respective fields of activity.
Ranked by Forbes as one of the most innovative companies in the world, Larsen & Toubro is a major industrial conglomerate with highly diverse activities ranging from engineering and construction to technology and financial services worldwide. The company also boasts an active defence business covering a wide range of solutions. MBDA is the recognised European leader in missiles and missile systems and is able to offer the very best technology available in every segment of the market - air, land and sea. Its proven skills have seen the company being selected to lead Europe’s major collaborative programmes such as Meteor, Storm Shadow / SCALP and Aster.
Since its beginnings in 1938, L&T, which became a limited company in 1946, has evolved into a major Indian industrial success story. The company has grown from humble origins to a large international conglomerate spanning a number of diverse activities. Recent domestic successes include iconic construction projects such as the Delhi & Mumbai International Airports. Highly significant was the winning of the largest ever order placed by the MoD on an Indian private company, a contract that will see L&T’s Defence & Aerospace division supply 100 units of 155mm/52 calibre Tracked Self-Propelled Gun systems to the Indian Army. The win reaffirmed L&T's position as India’s leading private sector Defence company, capable of designing, developing and manufacturing state-of-the-art platforms and systems for the Indian armed forces.
MBDA can boast a proud heritage in India going back some 50 years with the manufacture, under license, of the eponymous Milan ATGM missile which has served the Indian Army so well. The company was also responsible for supplying the Magic II and Super 530 air-to-air missiles which after many years of service have only recently being replaced by MBDA’s MICA on the IAF’s fleet of Mirage 2000 combat jets. The link with the IAF continues to grow with recent successes seeing MBDA’s ASRAAM short range air-to-air missile being ordered for the Jaguar bomber as well as a full suite of weapons being readied for the arrival of the new Rafale aircraft. When the Indian Navy’s fleet of Kalvari class of Scorpene submarines take to the sea, they will be equipped with the world-renowned Exocet anti-ship missile also supplied by MBDA.