Defense giant Safran is set to establish its inaugural electronics unit in India
New Delhi: The French defense conglomerate Safran Group has informed India’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, of its intention to establish its first Defense Electronics unit outside of France in India, according to sources familiar with the situation. This move is seen as a reflection of the strengthening strategic relationship between the two nations.
The individuals, who requested anonymity, noted that during the two-day strategic dialogue held on September 30 and October 1 between Doval and French President Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic advisor, Emmanuel Bonne, along with his chief military advisor, Fabien Mandon, France committed to collaborating with India on advanced materials and metallurgy. This collaboration is crucial for producing essential components for military and civilian engines. They emphasized that for India to adopt high-end technology, it is vital for the Indian industry to gain expertise in advanced metallurgy for the forging and casting of critical aircraft engine parts.
Safran disclosed during the conversation that it intended to establish a defense electronics plant in India to produce sensors and other essential electronics components required to support military platforms.
The French aircraft company Dassault Aviation SA has already purchased land in Jevar, Uttar Pradesh, to construct a comprehensive maintenance, overhaul, and repair facility capable of servicing both civilian and Rafale aircraft.
Apart from helping India develop counter-swarm and armed drone technology, France has also made the decision to work with India to jointly develop unmanned sub-surface, surface, and aerial systems, or underwater drones for submarines.
The high point of Doval’s trip to France, though, was his hour-long conversation with Macron during which they talked about Israel’s battle in Lebanon and the conflict in Ukraine. Hours after returning from Beirut, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot assessed the situation in West Asia, while NSA Doval assessed the crisis in Ukraine. Everyone agreed that Israel would probably keep up its land operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon in an effort to assist a moderate administration in the war-torn country while also militarily weakening the Shia terrorist organization.
According to the sources, the two sides also discussed openly about the state of international security, particularly China’s position in the Indo-Pacific.
