A joint venture between the companies of India and Israel on Tuesday rolled out its first batch of the 1000 midsection Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM) kits to the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS), a joint venture between Kalyani Strategic Systems Ltd and Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd, has already set up a separate incubation centre in Hyderabad’s Gachibowli to support the technology, research and development, design, and engineering aspects.

These missile sections produced by KRAS will be ‘forwarded’ to Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), a defence PSU, for further and future integration, reports The Indian Express.

“We have been a reliable partner to the Indian armed forces for almost three decades, and these missile kits are a testimony of our commitment to ‘Make in India’ cause. We are confident KRAS will not only build products for the Indian armed forces but will, at the same time, trigger and help achieve the Indian government’s vision of exports from India,” said Brig. Gen. Pinhas Yungman, who heads the Air and Missile Defense Systems division of Rafael Advanced Defense System (RADS).

“The event marked the beginning of the journey of an MSME Indian company that is committed not only to the ‘Make-in-India’ concept but also taking its stride towards the larger ‘Atma Nirbharta’ idea (self-reliance). In this effort the company has fused Rafael’s state-of-the-art technology with the engineering excellence of the Kalyani Group,” said Rudra B Jadeja, the Chief Executive of KRAS.

Baba Kalyani, Chairman of Kalyani Group termed this as the beginning of a new era, filled with self-confidence, a marked step-change in technological expertise, and a collective demonstration of capability to be the global manufacturing hub for defence products.

“We are confident of completing the order far ahead of the stipulated time, and support the armed forces with the best in class missile kits. Apart from the missile kits, we will extend our support in Maintenance and Repair Operations (MRO) as in-service Air Defence Missile System for the armed forces,” he said.