New Delhi: A missile integration facility has been set up in Tamil Nadu by leading Indian company Larsen & Toubro in a joint venture with European missile maker MBDA, namely L&T MBDA Missile Systems to deliver complete missile systems for export markets from 2020, the Indian engineering major said on February 3.

“L&T MBDA Missile Systems has been working proactively to offer advanced missiles and missile systems to the Indian Armed Forces through domestic production. The creation of this new integration facility at Coimbatore is a first step in this direction,” said JD Patil, Chairman of L&T MBDA Missile Systems.

The unit includes assembly, inert integration (without explosives) and testing facility for missile sub-systems and missile weapon launch systems spread across an area of 16,000 square meter in a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Coimbatore. It is a part of the Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor.

The joint venture was formed in 2017 and it has already received a few export orders, the delivery for which will start in 2020.

Vice Chairman and member of the board L&T MBDA Missile Systems, Pasquale Di Bartolomeo said, “With the technical and human capabilities offered by this site, India will be ideally placed to offer its armed forces and the export market the very latest generation of defence equipment technology.”

LTMMSL will also address Indian Navy’s air defence requirement for short range surface-to-air missile system.

L&T owns 51 per cent stake in LTMMSL and MBDA owns 49 per cent in the company.