Wednesday, January 20, 2010

ST Kinetics Looks At India For Long-term Business

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
January 20, 2009

NEW DELHI – ST Kinetics, the Land Systems arm of Singapore Technologies Engineering, is participating in numerous programs in India and says it is looking at itself as a capability-based company able to integrate all dimensions of lifecycle support.
Rated by Moodys as AAA, it has bid for six Indian defense contracts, including a Request for Proposals (RFP) for 34,377 Compact Personal Weapons.
Other tenders include 400 155mm towed howitzers, the trials for which are to be held at the end of February in Kargil, a district of Ladakh in Kashmir that lies near the Line of Control facing Pakistan-administered Kashmir and was the center of conflict in May 1999. The war was fought in high altitudes in mountainous terrain, posing severe logistical problems for both India and Pakistan.
The Spider Light Strike Vehicle under technical evaluation is ready for shipment, says Patrick Choy, chief marketing officer for ST Kinetics. Its collapsible roll cage frame allows the vehicle to be transported in a C-130. Meanwhile, Singapore Technologies Kinetics’SAR 21 Lightweight Assault Rifles were flown to India last year for trials. A tender for Carbine 9mm weapons was submitted late last year.
The company was in the news recently when it was implicated in an investigation by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation related
to the country’s former Ordnance Factory Board chairman. As a result, the trials for the 155mm, .39-caliber, ultra-light howitzers were postponed (Aerospace DAILY, Dec. 23). The gun, flown into India last May, is still in the country and being maintained regularly by STK.
The company says it will showcase it at Defexpo, India’s land and naval defense systems event, set for Feb 15-18. Recent events suggest it is likely that BAE Systems’ ultra light howitzer M777 will go through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales route and will not require a re-tender. However, it has not gone for congressional clearance as yet, an official told Aerospace DAILY.
While STK does not plan to showcase its towed gun at Defexpo,BAE Systems will bring its towed FH77B05 to the show.
While STK is partnering with Punj Lloyd for production, BAE Systems’ intention is that its new joint venture company with Mahindra “will have a significant work share on the FH77B05 as well,” a BAE spokesman says.
STK is in the process of getting clearance to set up its office in New Delhi. The next in line is expected to be ST Electronics, also an arm of ST Engineering.
- Neelam Mathews (mathews.neelam@gmail.com

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