According to sources familiar with the development, the integration of BDL’s Advanced Short Range Air-To-Air Missile (ASRAAM) on LCA Tejas is in the final stages of integration by HAL and BDL. Carriage and Captive trials are expected to start this year.
MBDA, Europe’s leading missile manufacturer, has signed an agreement with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) of India for the final assembly, integration and test of Mistral and ASRAAM missiles in India.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at DSEI in London by George Kyriakides, Director of International Industrial Co-operation at MBDA, and Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd.), Chairman & Managing Director of BDL.
BDL is a major Indian weapon systems integrator and has supplied more than 130,000 weapon systems to domestic and foreign customers. MBDA has a long and highly successful history of working with BDL for the past 50 years, which has already seen over 50,000 MBDA-designed missiles manufactured in India.
ASRAAM is India’s New Generation Close Combat Missile. With its large rocket motor and clean aerodynamic design, ASRAAM has unrivalled speed, aerodynamic manoeuvrability and range. The IAF’s Jaguar aircraft are the first Indian platform to receive this cutting-edge air-combat missile.
The ASRAAM is a within visual range air dominance weapon. It is a new generation close combat missile. Its low drag, aerodynamic airframe, unrivalled speed and manoeuvrability throughout its flight and increased agility make it the best missile in its category of weapons. The missile has full ‘Lock On Before Launch’ and ‘Lock On After Launch’ operating modes.