By Kamal Shah
MT30 MARINE ENGINES MoU AND SUPPORT TO LCA MARK 2
| With a particular focus on maritime and defence industrial collaboration, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have set out a shared vision for the UK-India Defence partnership and agreed to advance the relationship to a new level, in a virtual summit held early May 2021 |
As part of a ‘2030 Roadmap’, the two Prime Ministers agreed to work closely in support of India’s indigenous development of the Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2. They also spoke of the potential for further industrial collaboration in areas like maritime propulsion, space and cyber, marking the start of a promising new era of UK-India research, capability and industrial collaboration on Indian combat air and beyond. The agreement was fortified with a MoU between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Rolls Royce to move aspects of manufacturing the MT30 Gas Turbine engine to India, supporting the Make in India initiative.
On the lines of Indo-US agreement, Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in August 2016, India and the United Kingdom are also working to conclude a Logistics Memorandum of Understanding that will enhance the joint ability to tackle shared challenges. In addition to commitments on the Indo-Pacific, the two countries agreed to build on existing government-to-government collaboration on India’s future combat air engine requirements. Both reaffirmed the benefits of a closer co-operation in a free and open Indo-Pacific, recognising their shared interest in regional prosperity and stability. They agreed to significantly increase defence co-operation on maritime domain awareness, which includes new agreements on maritime information sharing, an invitation to the UK to join India’s Information Fusion Centre in Gurgaon and an ambitious exercise programme which includes joint tri- lateral exercises.
MP Jeremy Quin, Minister for Defence Procurement,UK, said, “The UK and India enjoy a strong defence and security relationship. We remain committed to close collaboration with India as we both adapt to meet future threats and look to innovate our defence equipment programmes and systems.”. Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said, “The UK and India are natural partners in defence and security. These announcements underline our shared ambition for that partnership, enhancing cooperation, building joint expertise and accelerating industrial cooperation, building up to the arrival of our new aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships to India this autumn.” The ‘2030 Roadmap’ announcements follow the news that the UK’s Carrier Strike Group 2021, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth, will sail to India in the autumn on its maiden operational deployment. The UK Integrated review – a landmark review of foreign, defence, development and security policy, published last month – committed the UK to becoming the European country with the broadest, most integrated presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of trade, shared security and values. This recently published Integrated review indicates India & UK will have major collaborations in immediate future with the focus on China and its expansionist PLA Na
Rolls-Royce and HAL Sign MoU for Supporting MT30 Marine Engine Business
The Indian Ministry of Defenc’s (MoD) Public Sector Unit (PSU), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Rolls-Royce have signed an MoU to establish packaging, installation, marketing and services support for Rolls-Royce MT30 marine engines in India. Through this MoU, Rolls-Royce and HAL will expand their partnership in India and work together in the area of marine applications for the first time.
Upon signing this MoU, Mr. R Madhavan, CMD, HAL said, “Rolls-Royce has been our valued partner for several decades. We now look forward to working together to explore business opportunities in marine applications. This partnership will leverage the rich experience of HAL’s IMGT Division that works on marine gas turbines with Indian shipyards. Further, we are also exploring the option of using MT7 marine engine on the hovercraft being planned by the shipyards in India.” Mr. Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India and South Asia said, “We are excited to bring together Rolls-Royce’s experience of over five decades in developing naval propulsion solutions and HAL’s in-market expertise in working with marine gas turbines to support our MT30 engines. We look forward to building on this partnership to provide solutions in the area of naval defence.” Speaking about the partnership, Mr. Tom Bell, President, Rolls-Royce Defence said, “Rolls-Royce has a shared history of successful collaboration with HAL in defence aerospace, and we are proud to strengthen our valued partnership to work together for the MT30 naval gas turbine. As India focuses on its vision of modernisation and self-reliance in defence, we look forward to introducing the MT30 to customers in India in collaboration with HAL. Designed for naval platforms of the future, the MT30 is perfectly equipped to meet the Indian Navy’s present and future needs.”
