Thales and Reliance Defence JV on Rafale programme

Thales and Reliance Defence Limited have formed an Indian Joint Venture (JV) with the proposed share holding of 49% and 51% respectively. Leveraging Thales offset commitment as part of the massive Rafale contract, “the JV is to develop Indian capabilities to integrate and maintain radar and electronic warfare sensors and to develop skills and activity in the Special Economic Zone of Mihan-Nagpur together with an Indian supply chain for the manufacturing of microwave technologies and high performance airborne electronics”.

In related news, Dassault Aviation along with its partner Reliance Defence hosted some 200 delegates from the aerospace industry, from different parts in India representing over 60 Indian companies and 25 French companies in New Delhi on 14 June 2017. This event in cooperation with Rafale Industrial Partners including Thales, Safran and MBDA was to promote Business to Business (B2B) interactions between the French and Indian aerospace manufacturers “to deepen existing links, create new opportunities of collaboration and work towards establishing a full-fledged defence manufacturing eco-system in India”.