Thursday, February 13, 2014: India and France have inked a memorandum of understanding to strengthen the Indian Air Defense system. The Rs 300,000 million SR-SAM project is a co-development dual venture between India and France, which will be developed by MBDA of France and DRDO from the Indian side. The IAF and the Navy will deploy this surface to air missile defence system. MBDA has had a long-term partnership with DRDO and it aims to fill a recognised capability gap with the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy.
AK Antony, the defence minister, in a written statement to the Parliament, officially announced the Memorandum of Understanding between DRDO and MBDA. The full scale model of the SR-SAM missile also called MAITRI is brought in the country for the first time by the French firm.
DRDO has already completed development of Akash, which is a Medium Range Surface to Air Missile. The Indian Air Force and Army have ordered production of these MR-SAMs with the Bharat Electronics Ltd. Akash is a MR-SAM system with a range 25 km with command based guidance system. The SR-SAM is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile system with a range of 15 km with seeker based guidance system.
