Swedish defence major Saab on Monday started construction on its new manufacturing facility in India for its iconic Carl-Gustaf M4 weapons with a formal groundbreaking ceremony. The facility is being built in the State of Haryana at MET City at Jhajjar in Haryana. The State has a strong industrial base of good potential partners and skilled employees, the company said.
“Today is an important milestone for Sweden and India. Saab’s factory will be the first foreign fully-owned defence production facility in India. It is a testament to the strong bilateral relationship between our countries,” says Håkan Jevrell, State Secretary for Foreign Trade, Sweden.
After receiving approval of 100% foreign direct investment, Saab has established a new company, Saab FFVO India Pvt Ltd, which will fully own the new manufacturing facility and produce the Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon, the company said.
“I am proud to start constructing our first facility outside Sweden for Carl-Gustaf, a product that has a long history with the Indian armed forces. We look forward to starting production of our excellent product, now engineered and made in India”, said Görgen Johansson, Senior Vice President and Head of Saab’s business area dynamics. The Carl-Gustaf has been in use with the Indian Army since 1976 and has been the main shoulder fired weapon.
Saab will partner with Indian suppliers and will fully meet the requirements of “Make in India” for the systems manufactured in the facility, the company said. “At the new factory, Saab will deploy complex technologies including the latest sighting technology and advanced carbon fibre winding to manufacture Carl-Gustaf M4 for the Indian armed forces, and components which may be included in other users’ systems.”
The Carl-Gustof has a range of ammunition with varying ranges, with a maximum range of upto 1500m. The anti-tank ammunition has a range of 500m.
The older versions of the Carl-Gustaf and older ammunition are manufactured in India by the Ordnance Factory Board and now by the newly carved out Defence Public Sector Undertakings and Company officials had said in the past that they will continue to manufacture them.
