MBDA offers Brimstone

A Tornado GR4 fitted with the Brimstone Missile flew a mission over Iraq today, 18 December 2008. The GR4 belongs to No 9 Squadron from RAF Marham who are currently based in the Middle East. The Tornado was crewed by Pilot Flight Lieutenant James Heeps and Navigator Flight Lieutenant Ken McLean, Armourer Corporal Kevin Stephenson armed the Brimstone in the pre-flight checks and Aircraft Maintenance Mechanic Senior Aircraftsman Steve Burke saw the aircraft off onto its mission. Brimstone advanced anti-armor, air-to-surface missile is designed for use by the British forces. Offering all-weather "fire and forget" capability. It autonomously detects, recognizes and tracks targets in daylight or at night and is unaffected by adverse weather conditions, countermeasures, smoke, dust, fog, clouds or sandstorms. — *A Tornado GR4 fitted with the Brimstone Missile.*

International missile manufacturer, MBDA, is in discussion with the Indian Air Force regarding a number of potential capabilities. Following its success in operations, MBDA’s Brimstone, an incomparable air support weapon for fast aircraft and for helicopters, has created a lot of interest in India and beyond.

“We are discussing with the Indian Air Force the range of air-launched weapons that MBDA can offer for its range of existing and planned aircraft. One of these is Brimstone,” Mati Hindrekus, marketing communications manager at MBDA, said.

The versatile Brimstone, rated as the world’s high-tech missile system, has been used with well-reported success in combats in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

MBDA is also discussing opportunities to deploy ASRAAM, the advanced short-range air-to-air missile, on Indian Air Forces’ other aircrafts, having been awarded a contract to supply it for the IAF’s Jaguar bombers about two years ago.

MBDA has been a leading supplier to the Indian armed forces for over five decades and is studying new manufacturing opportunities as the government liberalizes foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defence sector.

“We already have a large network of local partners in India and for quite some time we have been in discussions to set up a joint venture. When that joint-venture happens, a lot more local manufacturing will take place in India which will become even more important to MBDA’s global supply chain,” he said at the Farnborough International Airshow.

“The venture will be a partnership with Indian industrial heavyweight as India represents one of our major export customers,” he stressed.

“India is also number one for us in terms of creating a partnership with non-European company. That is where we see our future out of Europe in terms of industrial cooperation,” elaborated Hindrekus.

He noted the wealth of talent, skill and knowhow among dynamic enterprises as well as low-cost manufacturing in India.

“MBDA sees a major opportunity to share technology and work together to develop and make products for the global market.

“We expect a level of expertise in our partners to qualify, especially the high-end technological capability. We provide the best, we make the best and we would like to work with the best,” he said.

He described the 100 per cent FDI participation in some defence industries as a “very positive step” towards encouraging further investment in India.

MBDA’s studies of Indian partnership had commenced even before the foreign FDI share was raised 49 per cent, he said, adding “this shows our determination to be part of India’s defence industrial framework”.

“If you invest a lot of money, obviously you will want to have control on your investment and manufacturing,” said Hindrekus, welcoming opportunities under the 100 per cent FDI in some defense industries. fii-news.com