Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel's leading aerospace and defence company, have inked an MoU for co-operation in addressing India's requirements in the domain of Short Range Air Defence Systems.

The MoU was signed by K.V. Suresh Kumar, Director (Marketing), BEL, and Avi Elisha, VP and General Manager, Missile Systems Division, IAI, in the presence of Bhanu Prakash Srivastava, CMD, BEL, in Bengaluru yesterday.

The partnership marks yet another significant step towards cementing the synergy between the two companies which have a long history of association. BEL and IAI are engaged in several joint development / production / product support programmes for the Indian Defence forces.

The MoU aims at leveraging IAI and BEL’s capabilities, and is in sync with the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ policies of the Government of India.

Bhanu Prakash Srivastava, CMD, BEL, said: “BEL considers IAI, Israel, as a key strategic partner. This MoU is envisaged to boost the co-operation between the two companies in the field of Short Range Air Defence Systems. It will empower the Indian industry to make significant contributions towards equipping our forces with state-of-the-art Short Range Air Defence Systems.”

Boaz Levy, IAI's President and CEO, said: “BEL and IAI have a successful partnership in the field of Air Defence in India. Together, we are providing the Indian Armed Forces with high-end Air Defence capabilities that meet their high-end operational requirements on one hand and ‘Make in India’ requirements on the other. Hence, it is only natural that we expand this cooperation to the Short Range Air Defence domain.”