BEL, Safran to establish Hammer production joint venture
Bharat Electronics Limited has signed a joint venture agreement with Safran to produce the Hammer weapon in India. (Safran)
India's state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Safran Electronics & Defense have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) to produce and maintain the French company's Armement Air‐Sol Modulaire (AASM) Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (Hammer) smart precision-guided air-to-surface weapon for the Indian military.
BEL said on 24 November that under the agreement the JV is envisioned to be a private limited entity with 50:50 shareholding, with the intent to fulfil future Hammer requirements of the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force (IAF). However, the companies did not disclose the Hammer variant that will be produced as a part of the co-operation.
“The indigenisation level will progressively increase with key subassemblies, electronics, and mechanical parts being manufactured locally,” BEL said. “The transfer of production will happen in a phased manner with BEL leading final assembly, testing, and quality assurance.”
The agreement follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that the companies signed in February to initiate a partnership to manufacture, customise, and maintain Hammer in India.
At the time, the companies also revealed plans to establish a ‘centre of excellence' in India, to support the development of capabilities including manufacturing, engineering, and sustainment of optronics and navigation equipment for the Indian Armed Forces.
The Hammer consists of three modular sections: a guidance unit, the warhead and fuze section, and the tail kit housing the folding fins and rocket motor. The weapon integrates three guidance kit versions to cover air-to-surface tactical mission requirements. It also includes HRG Crystal inertial navigation system (INS) and GPS guidance for each guidance kit ensuring accuracy in global navigation satellite services (GNSS)-denied environments in all-weather conditions.
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