New Delhi: Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the country’s largest defence company, is looking to strengthen the Narendra Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative not just for the Indian armed forces but also to cater to Israel and global demands, president and CEO Boaz Levy has told ThePrint.
Sitting down on the sidelines of the 15th edition of Aero India here, Levy refused to get into the specifics of deals but said the company had already moved the manufacture of a weapon system to India from Israel. This was providing for Israeli needs as well, he added.
Levy said the company was in talks with Indian authorities for new defence as well as offensive systems.
One of the highlights at the IAI pavilion has been the 400-kilometre range Air LORA, the air-launched ballistic missile (ALBM). The missile, which was introduced last year, is on offer to India.
“We have been in India for 40 years, adjusting ourselves to anything that India requires. We are following the initiative of the Modi government for ‘Make in India’ and self-reliance for the future,” Levy said, adding: “So, we have a lot of vendors in India who are part of the ecosystem. Lately, we are opening several joint ventures.”
At the ongoing Aero India, IAI and state-run Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) announced the operationalisation of a joint venture, which will provide a single-point contact for long-term product support services for India’s defence forces.
Levy also spoke about the innovation centre that IAI has recently opened in India. “… we are taking it one step higher than ‘transfer of technology’. Let’s create something out of the box. Let’s have startups here in India. IAI is the biggest defence company in Israel and we are also a big supplier to the world and India,” he said.
Levy underlined that the recent conflict involving Israel has shown how a war should be fought. “Combat systems should be more integrated and more sophisticated, based on a lot of sensors, some from space, ground and air. They should all work together,” he said.
He also said Israel understood the importance of allies, when asked if the war with Hamas had taught them that local production of defence equipment was key since Israel did face issues with supply from Europe.
“We need to have allies. You need to identify your allies and actually work in cooperation. You should not do everything from your own premises. You should create an ecosystem and that is what we are doing. Some of the IAI products are manufactured in India… Collaboration is key when it comes to sophisticated systems,” he said.
Levy added that when the war had started, IAI took two major decisions. “First, we would work as much as required to bring solutions to Israeli defence forces and protect our nation. The other decision was that we would work intensively, seven days a week to cater to all our customers overseas. We worked three shifts a day, seven days a week and met our international commitments,” the IAI chief said.
Levy added while some of the production was done in Israel, the country had vendors, some of whom were in India. “When we are developing a vendor in India, it is not only for India but also for us. It is being sold as part of a system to many customers across the world. It is a win-win situation,” he said.
He said the IAI had built structures and an ecosystem in India.
‘Want to bring more to the table’
Speaking about future projects, Levy said the two countries were in talks for refueler projects besides AWACS (airborne warning and control system) and missiles, mainly for defence but also for attack.
He spoke about India’s “medium-range surface to air missile programme (MRSAM)” which has been developed along with Israel – modelled on their Barak series.
“MRSAM system is mostly done here in India. Many of our capabilities have been presented at the Aero India. We want to bring more to the table,” he said.
Levy added that going forward, IAI was looking at creating more joint ventures with Indian companies and increasing sourcing.
Without getting into specific numbers, he said IAI was procuring “a lot from India”.
“We are purchasing a lot for our systems. Some production lines in Israel have been shifted to India. It is very significant, but I can’t talk about it because it is classified. This has been done in the recent past,” he said.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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