Swedish Saab wants to increase production to meet growing demand for “anti-tank capability”
Swedish arms maker Saab will build a new facility in India to make a shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon, according to a company executive, who noted that the plant would serve New Delhi’s armed forces in addition to more than a dozen other nations.
The plans were revealed on Tuesday by Saab senior vice president Gorgen Johansson, who said the company would build a new factory at an unspecified location in India to produce its Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon system, hoping to begin operations sometime in 2024.
“It is a natural step to set up a Carl-Gustaf M4 production facility in India given the long and close relationship we have with the Indian Army as one of the primary users of the system.” he told reporters in New Delhi, adding that Saab would “contribute to the Government of India’s objective of developing a world-class defense industry.”
The factory will manufacture the versatile shaft-launched weapon not only for India’s military, but for customers in 15 other countries, Johansson Addedproverb “we haven’t done this in any other country.”
The new production facility will help to satisfy the growing demand for the weapon, which in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine “more countries will seek anti-tank capabilities going forward,” according to Johansson. Ukraine received at least 100 Carl Gustav M2 rockets and 2,000 rounds of 84mm ammunition from Canada alone, while the Pentagon sent an additional 2,000 compatible grenade ammunition from its inventory.
Carl Gustaf has been in service in India since its introduction in 1976 and has undergone several upgrades over the decades. The Saab boss said the new factory will only manufacture the latest M4 variant, while previous generations will continue to be manufactured by a partner local company, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL). He offered few other details about the plans, saying the production site had not yet been selected.
The new investment was announced as New Delhi declared a target to increase arms production, with Defense Minister Rajnath Singh saying on Tuesday that the country had increased annual exports by about thirteen times over the past eight years, from 10 billion rupees ($122 million) to 130 billion ( 1.5 billion dollars). By 2025, he said, India hopes to push defense exports up to 350 billion rupees ($4.2 billion) and total output to 1.75 trillion ($21.3 billion).
Source: sn.dk