General Dynamics To Partner With Indian Companies

April 30, 2010
BUSINESS

NEW DELHI — Two years after opening its liaison office in India,General Dynamics U.K, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics,will soon be announcing
a series of partnerships with small and large Indian companies.

A prime contractor and complex systems integrator, General Dynamics U.K. will be looking at opportunities in India in C4I solutions, Armored Fighting Vehicle (AFV) technology, deployable infrastructure and security.
 
“General Dynamics U.K. will be looking at vehicle integration,” General Dynamics U.K. Vice President Mark J.S. Douglas tells AVIATION WEEK. “There are big opportunities for modernization of and upgrade of the Indian Army’s BMP [Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty] — a second-generation, amphibious infantry combat vehicle introduced in the 1980s.”

The company’s business units will address India’s need for a Battlefield Management System (BMS) program, Tactical Communication System (TCS), infrastructure and shelters and security systems to protect Critical National Infrastructure.

“We want to partner with the ministry of defense to ensure they are not buying a system [that doesn’t talk] to itself,” Douglas adds. “Our experience in integration of systems ensures it communicates with everything else.”

India’s security market, many have said, is diffuse and difficult to integrate. “I do not agree,” he says. “You’ve got to get your approach right. Who you partner with is important.”
- Neelam Mathews