LE BOURGET, France — Aequs announced it is doubling the output of the Rafale fighter jet to help reach its goal of tripling annual sales to $300 million by 2020, said Aravind Melligeri, chairman and CEO of the Indian precision engineering company.
Aequs will double present turnover of $500,000 on each Rafale due to increased production of the twinjet fighter, he told Defense News at the Paris Air Show.
"That's good for us," he said. "Our goal is to be a core machining activity. We want to be a global player."
Aequs supplies machined parts to Dassault from France, where the subcontractor has four factories, said Melligeri, whose office is in Spring, Texas.
Click here to get full coverage from the Paris Air Show.
Prime contractor Dassault Aviation, a family controlled company, has worked closely with French suppliers to speed up Rafale production to two units per month after winning Egyptian, Qatari and Indian orders.
New Delhi did not seek a transfer of technology in India's off-the-shelf order, so Aequs' French factories will gain from the Rafale deal rather than its large plant in Belagavi, near Bangalore.
There is close attention on the Indian Navy's requirement for new fighters for aircraft carriers and airbases, with the F-18 and Rafale seen as the main contenders, he said.
Éric Trappier, Dassault chairman, has previously said the company is in negotiations with India, which has "immense" requirements, with the Navy looking to order 57 fighters.
Aequs last year acquired the French Sira group to expand its industrial base in Europe. Melligeri declined to disclose the acquisition price. Aequs expects 2017 sales of $100 million after $83 million last year. The target is to reach $300 million in 2020, he said. The company, set up in 2009, is based at a special economic zone at Belgavi.
The company's sales in France are evenly split between military and civil, while group sales are 70 to 80 percent in commercial contracts. The three biggest clients are Airbus, Safran and UTC Aerospace.
Lockheed Martin announced on Monday at the air show that its Indian local partner Tata Advanced Systems Limited would handle F-16 final assembly and check out if New Delhi picked the U.S. bidder for the Indian Air Force.
Saab is expected to pitch its Gripen E in the Indian Air Force requirement for a single-engined fighter.
Dassault's doubled output will lead to 22 Rafale per year, as the factory at Mérignac, in southwest France, is closed for the traditional August summer holiday.
Featured Video
