Leyland inks defence tie-up with L&T, Nexter

Hinduja Group flagship Ashok Leyland has set up a consortium with infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro Ltd and Nexter Systems to collaborate for the Mounted Gun System (MGS) artillery programme of the Indian army.

The partnership was signed at the Eurosatory, one of the world’s largest defence exhibitions, Ashok Leyland said on Friday. Under the agreement, L&T will act as the prime contractor, while Nexter will transfer the final integration and production of the MGS artillery system in India to L&T. Ashok Leyland will produce the chasses for the systems.

"The artillery system proposed by the consortium for the MGS programme is a version of the well-known CAESAR artillery system on 6x6 Super Stallion Chassis from Ashok Leyland,” the company said in a statement. The artillery system was first unveiled at the Defence Expo held in New Delhi in February.

"The partnership among the three companies is based on delivering the best solution and value to the Indian Army. The customisation of the systems to fulfil Indian requirements will be done in cooperation between the three companies," Ashok Leyland, which is the largest logistics supplier to the Indian Army, said. Nexter and L&T are already teaming for the Towed Gun System programme of the Defence Ministry.