Raytheon teams with Larsen & Toubro on India tank upgrade proposal

Raytheon Company and Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) have submitted an L&T-led proposal to upgrade Indian Army T-72 tanks.

The announcement was made Tuesday at DEFEXPO India 2010 in New Delhi.

Under the proposal, Raytheon will provide infrared imaging sights and electronics to improve target accuracy and increase overall system lethality of T-72 tank battalions. Raytheon has provided more than 20,000 thermal sights in 15 countries.

"Through collaboration with L&T on this important proposal for the Indian Army, we have confirmed the very complementary capabilities leveraged across our companies," said Fritz Treyz, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems India Operations. "Together, we are exploring other opportunities to provide net-centric modernization defense solutions to meet growing demands in India and the global marketplace."

L&T brings a successful track record developing fire control systems across multiple weapon systems for land, naval and air defense applications. With customer support, L&T will perform the final integration of fire control system and sensors on the T-72 tanks.

"L&T is the only Indian company in the private sector that is leading a team for the T-72 upgrade program. The L&T and Raytheon combination has what it takes to deliver on such an important program," said M. V. Kotwal, senior executive vice president and member of the L&T board of directors. "This will lead to new joint opportunities in the Indian and global defense markets."

Source: Raytheon