Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has delivered transmit/receive (T/R) modules to Thales for the RBE2 radar that is used by Rafale fighter aircraft, said an official statement on 3 February. These modules were delivered to Thales by BEL after the French company transferred its technology as per the Rafale fighter jet purchase agreement between India and France.
The BEL’s engineers were trained at the French facility of Thales as per the offset agreement.
“The modules produced in India (by BEL) are then integrated with the RBE2 radar in France. BEL and Thales teams are, thus working closely to transfer advanced technological know-how,” the Thales’s statement said.
The first batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India from France on July 29, 2020, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore.
A total of 11 Rafale jets have been delivered by its manufacturer Dassault Aviation till now.
V Gowtama, Chairman and Managing Director, BEL, said, “We are happy to be associated with Thales in delivering the transmit/receive modules for the prestigious Rafale programme. The Thales and BEL teams ensured that the ToT (transfer of technology) happened seamlessly.”
“We have augmented our facility in Bangalore to meet the requirements of manufacturing this state-of-the-art sub-system. We look forward to working together on many more such challenging assignments with Thales,” he stated.
