South Korea’s defence electronics firm Hanwha Systems is making its entry into India’s defence aerospace segment by joining hands with Samtel Avionics for manufacturing high-technology products for avionics and military applications under Make In India.
The joint venture is aimed at manufacturing military electronics and optronics across multiple platforms, such as missile electronics, rockets, guided missile and laser-guided bombs.
Puneet Kaura, Executive Director, Samtel Avionics said that in the aerospace sector, this is Hanwha’s first venture with a private company. He also notified that there are multiple domains that are complementary to what Samtel do in military electronics and optronics.
Kaura said the $3.5-billion Hanwha Systems is willing to go for a full transfer of technology. The products are not limited to a single platform as they can be fitted on all existing missile products manufactured in India.
He further said the products the JV plans to manufacture will be required by the armed forces over several years, although the orders have not yet been placed by the Defence Ministry.
The $65-billion Hanwha Group had made its first entry in India through another group company Hanwha Techwin, in collaboration with Larsen and Toubro, to provide artillery guns for the Indian Army, although the programme is yet to be awarded.
By Baishakhi Dutta
