Swedish defence firm gets HAL orders for Army, IAF choppers

Swedish firm Saab today said it has got two orders from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited worth Rs 200 crore for integrated electronic warfare self-protection system for Advanced Light Helicopters of the Army and IAF.
"Saab has an unbeaten capability in the field of electronic warfare and self-protection. The IDAS system is one of our flagship products sold to customers around the world," said Micael Johansson, Senior Vice President and Head of Saab's business area Electronic Defence Systems in a release.
These orders follow initial serial production orders received in 2008. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2014. Development and production of the IDAS system will take place at Saab in Centurion, South Africa (Saab Grintek Defence).

The system provides a timely warning against different types of threats including radar, laser and missile approach warning and automatically deploys the appropriate counter measures, a press statement said today.
"With these orders we continue to build on our very successful partnership with HAL. The fact that HAL and the Armed Forces have continued to show faith in the IDAS system is a testimony of the effectiveness and reliability of the solution," said Lars-Olof Lindgren, Head of Market Area Saab India.