Raytheon, Tatas to work on electronics, avionics

Defence major Raytheon plans to take forward its tie-up with Tata Power by focussing on electronic and avionic technologies that could be marketed globally, a top official of the US firm has said.

"We are in the process of getting US export licences that will allow us to work with Tata Power on specific projects," Wesley Motooka, vice president of Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems, said at the Paris Air Show.

Raytheon - which established a tie-up in February with Tata Power, a key private player in India's defence sector - is evaluating the Indian firm's capabilities and estimating costs for joint projects that the two companies could work on, Motooka told PTI.

"We intend to bid for global markets," he said, without giving details of the specific projects that the two firms would work on.

As part of its efforts to identify potential Indian partners, Raytheon has carried out an industrial survey of 50 companies from the country and zeroed in on eight firms. "We studied their discipline and capabilities and had detailed discussions with them," Motooka said.

"After the deal with Tata, we are closing in (agreements) on couple more," he said, adding a tie-up between Raytheon and an Indian firm is likely to be completed by July.