OREANDA-NEWS. March 29, 2012. ITT Exelis (NYSE: XLS) and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) have formed a strategic alliance to support Generation (Gen) 3 night vision requirements in India.

Under a memorandum of understanding, ITT Exelis and TASL will partner to supply manufacturing capabilities in India, and provide maintenance and life-cycle support, for Gen 3 night vision products. To start with, ITT Exelis will provide TASL with the latest Gen 3 night vision image intensifier tubes, kits and other materials required to build night vision devices in India, to expedite the delivery of the systems to customers in India. This will be followed by manufacture of high precision components and sub-assemblies of the devices by TASL.

“This is an important alliance for ITT Exelis and TASL. It allows us to increase our international footprint and provides our allies with the superior products they need to be successful during night missions,” said Nick Bobay, vice president and general manager, night vision business area, ITT Exelis. “We look forward to a strong and healthy partnership with TASL to meet the growing needs of Indian customers.”

“The alliance with ITT Exelis is an important step in the TASL strategy to enhance the capabilities of the Indian armed forces by bringing to India cutting-edge technology and undertaking their manufacturing in India. We are tremendously excited by the potential of the partnership with ITT Exelis,” said Vijay Malik, general manager, defence and security, TASL. “TASL has set up world-class production facilities in collaboration with some of the largest global technology companies to build capability in India, and we aim to replicate the same with ITT Exelis to provide cutting-edge night vision solutions to our defence, paramilitary andpPolice forces in the coming years.”

The signing ceremony took place on Thursday, March 29, 2012, at Defexpo 2012 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India.