BDL has already manufactured well over 30,000 MILAN missiles, in its various variants, under licence to MBDA in an unbroken business partnership that dates back to the 1970s. With the recent contract this partnership has now been further consolidated. Most of the components will be locally sourced and produced in India with BDL also responsible for final assembly. MBDA will be contributing part of the missile pyrotechnics.
Antoine Bouvier, CEO of MBDA, said: “I am doubly delighted by the news of this contract. As well as confirming that MILAN continues to be the weapon of choice for many of today’s modern ground forces, this contract also further cements the close partnership MBDA has developed with BDL over the years”.
Notes to editors
MILAN, developed by the French and German elements of MBDA, is a man-portable, easy to use, medium-range, anti-tank weapon. It features reliable wire-guided SACLOS (Semi-Automatic Command to Line Of Sight) technology to provide man-in-the-loop control for today’s complex modern battlefield. Since the first variant of the weapon was launched in 1972, over 360,000 missiles have been produced. MILAN has been extensively proven under combat conditions and is in service in over 40 countries around the world.
With industrial facilities in four European countries and within the USA, MBDA has an annual turnover of more than €3 billion and an order book of more than €13 billion. With more than 90 armed forces customers in the world, MBDA is a world leader in missiles and missile systems.
MBDA is the only group capable of designing and producing missiles and missile systems that correspond to the full range of current and future operational needs of the three armed forces (land, sea and air). In total, the group offers a range of 45 missile systems and countermeasures products already in operational service and more than 15 others currently in development.
MBDA is jointly owned by BAE SYSTEMS (37,5%), EADS (37,5%) and FINMECCANICA (25%).
