Indian public sector undertaking Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Italian defence company Selex Galileo and Astra Microwave Products, a Hyderabad based company, have signed memorandum of understandings (MoU) for cooperation and sharing their expertise in the fields of electronic warfare and microwave components.

BEL said in a press release, "The collaboration between BEL and Selex Galileo would provide significant new market opportunities for both companies, as the former is the principal developer of electronic warfare equipment for the Indian armed forces and Selex Galileo is an international manufacturer in the field."

B. Malla Reddy, Managing Director, Astra Microwave informed that the agreement would address the governmental, military and civilian needs of country besides providing new opportunities with in country and abroad.

The agreement would prove beneficial for Indian defence apparatus manufacturer, BEL, to gain expertise in assembling, manufacturing and designing of microwave components, widely used in defence research and operations including radars, EW systems, sonars and communication equipment.

Meanwhile, Bharat Electronics Ltd CMD, V. V. R. Sastry said, "Our partnership with Astra will address the continuous requirement of such sub-systems with proactive R&D keeping pace with the changing technology for faster introduction of large systems."