Thales and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) will provide the first supply of Laser Beam Riding MANPAD (LBRM) Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) Missiles and launchers to the Indian Ministry of Defence.

Thales UK reported about this.

This is a major success, following on from the signing of the Partnership Agreement in 2021 between Thales and BDL to work on the LBRM, with the support of the Indian and UK Governments.

The systems will be manufactured in both countries, with the distribution of manufactured components as follows: 60% in India and 40% at Thales UK in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The first STARStreak systems will be delivered to the Indian Army this year. According to the press release, this order will enable Thales UK to increase the production rate of the systems to ensure timely delivery.

“The signing of this contract with BDL and Thales to support India’s air defense capability is a huge stride forward in strengthening our partnership with India. I am proud to see that Thales’ expertise in the domain of Air defense will bring vital, battle-proven capabilities to India,” Phil Siveter, CEO of Thales in the UK, stated.

The British man-portable air defense systems are intended to close a gap in India’s air defense against small drones, which are now increasingly used in military operations worldwide.

In addition to India, in October 2024, it was reported that the British company Thales UK won a Portuguese tender to supply modern short-range air defense systems.

As part of the tender, the British anti-aircraft missile system RapidRanger from Thales won in competition with the Polish air defense system Poprad from PIT-Radwar.

The range of missiles to be supplied to Portugal will consist of Starstreak-2 semi-active radar homing missiles and LMM (Martlet) lightweight multifunctional missiles. Officially, the number of anti-aircraft systems and the value of the contract are unknown, but based on the list of needs published in 2021, the Portuguese army seeks to replace 34 M48A2E1/A3 Chaparral air defense systems.

Starstreak is a man-portable air defense system adopted by the UK in 1997. The declared height of target destruction is up to 5000 meters, and the range is 6000+ meters. The missile with a 0.9 kg warhead can reach a speed of 3.5 Mach.

The warhead consists of three kinetic tungsten sub-elements. It is guided by a laser beam in a semi-automatic mode. The man-portable air defense system can be produced in various form factors: handheld, stationary on a tripod with three missile containers, and a combat module for military vehicles.