By IANS
New Delhi : Britain’s BAE Systems and Indian IT major Wipro have signed an agreement to work jointly on commercial aerospace projects. The arrangement follows a memorandum of agreement the two companies signed in June.
In a partnership spanning BAE Systems’ operations in Johnson City, New York, and Rochester in Britain and Wipro Technologies operations in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the companies “will combine efforts on the design of subsystems for the air transport and business jet markets,” a BAE release Thursday said.
“They will also cooperate on developing subsystems for aircraft engines,” it added.
The agreement establishes technical development centres in Hyderabad and Bangalore, the first step in a partnership that could see the two companies cooperating globally in the defence and aerospace markets, BAE said.
“We assessed a number of companies across the globe for this role, and Wipro was the most capable and offered the best business model,” said Mike Mendoza, BAE Systems’ managing director in India.
“In Wipro we have an internationally renowned company with excellent technical capabilities,” said Dave Herr, vice-president of commercial avionics for BAE Systems.
“This vital strategic partnership combines the strengths of two high-performing organisations, enabling us to better serve current customers and the emerging Indian defence and aerospace market,” he added.
Through the agreement, a number of Wipro staff will be based with BAE Systems in Britain and the US. Work has started in Johnson City, with Wipro staff already onsite, and activity will begin at BAE Systems in Rochester before the end of the year, the release said.
BAE Systems is a premier global defence and aerospace company delivering a full range of products and services for air, land and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services.
With 96,000 employees worldwide, BAE Systems’ sales exceeded 15 billion pounds (Rs.1.2 trillion) in 2006.