Hyderabad: India‘s army and air force today got the first delivery of a medium range surface-to-air missile (M R SAM) kit from the city-based Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems Private Limited, a joint venture between the Indian Kalyani Group and Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Limited.

The roll-out event marked Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems’ (K R A S) commitment to deliver more than 1,000 M R SAM ‘missile kits’ for the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force in the coming years.

These missile sections will then be ‘forwarded’ to India’s state-run defence public sector undertaking Bharat Dynamics Limited for further and future integration.

All of this in consonance with the umbrella ‘Make in India’ idea, a statement from Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems said.

The event also indicated the beginning of the journey of a Micro-Small-and-Medium-Enterprise (M S M E) Indian company, committed not only to the “Make in India” concept but to, as well, taking its own stride towards the larger ‘Atma Nir Bharta‘ or ‘self-reliance’ idea.

In this effort, the company has fused Rafael’s state-of the-art technology with the engineering excellence of the Kalyani Group, the company statement said.

“This is beginning of a new era, filled with self-confidence, a marked step-change in technological expertise and a collective demonstration of capability to be the global manufacturing hub for defence products,” Kalyani Group chairman and managing director Baba Kalyani said.

“We are confident to complete the order far ahead of the stipulated time, and support the armed forces with the best in class missile kits. Apart from the missile kits, we will extend our support in Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (M R O) operations as in-service Air Defence Missile System for the armed forces,” he said.

Bharat Forge Limited‘s B F L Defence president and chief executive officer Rajinder Bhatia led the Kalyani Group’s delegation at the event, which also saw participation from Israel Aerospace Industries.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems’ executive vice president Brigadier General Pinhas ‘Pini’ Yungman, whho heads the air and missile defence systems division of the Israeli company, attended the event.

“We have been a reliable partner to the Indian armed forces for almost three decades, and these missile kits are a testimony of our commitment to ‘Make in India’ cause. We are confident K R A S will not only build products for the Indian armed forces but will, at the same time, trigger and help achieve Indian government’s vision of exports from India,” Yungman said.

K R A S is India’s private sector M S M E with advanced manufacturing capabilities and facilities dedicated to especially address the assembly, integration and testing (A I T) of the state-of-the-art weapon systems being inducted by the defence forces.

Parallel with manufacturing, K R A S is maturing to address Maintenance, Repair and Overall operations too, that of a major in-service Air Defence Missile System for the Indian Air Force. As part of its ‘Make in India’ efforts, K R A S has also expanded its scope to include development of Advanced Defence Systems and Remotely-Controlled Weapon System.

“The joint venture, thus, is a testament to the enhanced and deep cooperation between Israel and India in the strategic defence sector, as the coming together leverages and conflates the technology of Rafael and engineering strength of the Kalyani Group.

NOTE: Kalyani Group, the India-based multinational, is a technology driven global provider of high performance, innovative, safety and critical components and solutions to various industrial sectors including Automotive, Railways, Power, Construction and Mining, Defence and Aerospace, Marine and Oil and Gas.

In its Defence profile, Kalyani Group has a wide product portfolio with expertise in design, development, engineering and manufacturing of systems and sub-systems for Artillery Guns, Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Protected Vehicles, Ammunition, Air Defence solutions, Defence Electronics and Small Arms.

NOTE: Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Limited designs, develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of high-tech defence systems for air, land, sea, and space applications for the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli defense establishment, as well as for customers around the world.

The company offers its customers a diversified array of innovative solutions at the leading edge of global technology, from underwater systems through naval, ground, and air superiority systems to space systems.

Rafael is one of Israel’s three largest defense companies, and employs 8,000 people and numerous subcontractors and service suppliers, including in the United States.

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