NEW DELHI. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and France’s Safran Electronics and Defence (SED) have signed a Joint Venture Cooperation Agreement in New Delhi to produce the HAMMER precision-guided air-to-ground weapon system in India, establishing a 50:50 joint venture that will localise manufacturing, supply and maintenance for the Indian Air Force and Navy, gradually increase indigenisation to about 60 per cent, transfer production in phases with BEL leading final assembly and quality assurance, and support deployment of the combat-tested HAMMER weapon compatible with aircraft like the Rafale and LCA Tejas.
The document was signed by BEL Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Jain and SED Executive Vice President Alexandre Ziegler, in the presence of Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar and Safran CEO Olivier Andries.
