L&T, CASSIDIAN to work on high -tech weapon systems

BANGALORE, INDIA: The new joint venture of Larsen & Toubro with CASSIDIAN will not only bring new weapons with state of the art technology  but also provide a platform  for making significant contributions to the global market in high-technology defence equipment, said M V Kotwal, President, Heavy Engineering, L&T here on Thursday.

The newly formed joint venture will focus on radar technologies, avionics, mobile systems and electronic warfare equipments. We are cashing a potential $1 billion market in the coming few years, Kotwal said.

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Dernd Wenzler, CEO Cassidian Electronics said that the new joint venture would like to establish an Indian industrial base for European technologies with development of long term partnership. We are prepared to bring additional capabilities into the JV company after the Indian laws allow an increase of shares up to 49 per cent, he added.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and European consortium EADS' military arm Cassidian are kick-starting their new joint venture in defence electronics in the next two days with their proposal getting the nod from both the commerce ministry's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the defence ministry.

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Recognizing L&T IES' growing engineering engagements established with EADS Tier1 suppliers, EADS Group  procurement signed a contact with L&T in January this year. This agreement will also enable L&T to be part of EADS strategic programs.