First India Supplier Summit launches BAE Systems’ Defexpo 2018 participation

Signalling its continued commitment to and focus on ‘Make in India’, BAE Systems hosted its first ever India Supplier Summit on April 5, in New Delhi. The Summit was held ahead of DefExpo, the country’s biennial Land, Naval and Internal Homeland Security Systems exhibition slated for April 11-14 in Chennai. With participation from over a 100 representatives from a cross-section of Indian companies, the Summit served as a single platform of engagement between these Indian suppliers and the Company for its global supply chains in land systems, air, naval, electronics, and technology.

Paul Smith, Chief Procurement Officer, BAE Systems delivered the keynote at the Summit in the presence of Nik Khanna, Managing Director, India, and Dr Joe Senftle, Vice President & General Manager of Weapon Systems at BAE Systems.

Centerstage at Defexpo will be the M777 Ultra Lightweight Howitzer which will be on display for the first time since the Governments of India and the United States agreed the Foreign Military Sale of 145 of these weapon systems for the Indian Army in November 2016. The first two weapon systems arrived in India ahead of schedule in May 2017. Encouraged by Prime Minister Modi’s call to “Make in India”, BAE Systems has awarded the development of an Indian Assembly, Integration and Test facility for the M777 to Mahindra and Mahindra. In addition, the conclusion of this procurement has paved the way for BAE Systems to make an investment of over $200 million in Indian defence suppliers.

Nik Khanna, Managing Director, India, BAE Systems, “The India Supplier Summit serves as an excellent springboard for our company’s presence at Defexpo. In addition to showcasing the range of our capabilities and technologies, the Show provides us a focused platform to engage with our customers, users in the military, partners, suppliers and the industry at large, providing both direction and momentum in our plans to ‘Make in India’.”

To underline BAE Systems’ capabilities for the naval forces, on display will be the Mk45Mod 4, the lightest, most compact, 5-inch fully automatic naval gun in the world and is the most widely deployed to the US Navy and other allied navies. The Show will also see BAE Systems strengthening its intent for industrial partnership on the 40Mk4 Naval Gun. An extremely flexible weapon system with its high rate of fire, 40Mk4 Naval Gun provides capability to switch between optimized ammunition types. In January this year, Finland became the third country to select this weapon system. The ‘Make in India’ Hawk advanced jet trainer, in service with the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy, will also be on display at Defexpo.