Saab and Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division (SED) have started manufacturing Land Electronic Defence System (LEDS) 50 self-protection systems for the Indian market and for export. The system has previously been made in South Africa only.
Saab recently announced that the process of Transfer of Technology for production of initial orders for Saab’s global customers has already commenced at Tata Power SED’s facility in Bangalore. Tata Power SED will eventually manufacture a large part of the system in India and also do final assembly. Tata will also be responsible for marketing the system in India.
“Up until now, LEDS has been manufactured by Saab’s South African subsidiary Saab Grintek Defence, with the new deal marking the first time the system will be produced not only in India but anywhere outside of South Africa. The Indian LEDS 50 units will initially be manufactured at Tata Power SED’s eleven-acre manufacturing facility in Bangalore, which employs about 600 people,” Defense News reported.
“In the lead up to the start of production, the transfer of technology is underway and Tata Power SED is in process of integrating all technical and quality process requirements currently followed in Saab facility in South Africa,” said Rahul Chaudhry, CEO of Tata Power SED.
“Saab is fully committed to working with Indian industry to Make in India, and this partnership is another step in that direction. Tata Power SED’s strengths in Defence Electronics manufacturing are a perfect complement to Saab’s expertise in Electronic Warfare systems, sensors and self-protection systems for all domains”, said Jan Widerström, Chairman and Managing Director, Saab India Technologies.
The Land Electronic Defence System (LEDS) 50 Mk 2 provides additional protection to a vehicle and crew by detecting the presence of laser threats and automatically deploying countermeasures to avoid the vehicle being hit by the threat.
Anne Lewis-Olsson, Vice President Communication Africa at Saab Grintek Defence, told defenceWeb that production of LEDS 50 at Saab Grintek Defence will continue as before. She stated that the Indian deal is part of Saab’s technology transfer package to India and will be very good for Saab Grintek Defence. “India is a very large customer to Saab and the export of technology will create growth in the long run for Saab and Saab Grintek defence in SA.”
Saab Grintek Defence supplies IDASS countermeasures system to India for its Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
