Bharat Electronics Limited will produce, customise, sell, and maintain Safran's Hammer smart precision-guided air-to-ground weapon in India. (Safran)
Safran Electronics & Defense (Safran) and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) have initiated a partnership to manufacture the Armement Air‐Sol Modulaire (AASM) Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (Hammer) smart precision-guided air-to-ground weapon in India.
The Hammer is built around three modular sections: a guidance unit (with several options), the warhead and fuze section, and the tail kit (housing the folding fins and rocket motor). According to a joint statement from Safran and BEL, the partnership will create a joint venture (JV) to manufacture, customise, sell, and maintain the Hammer. The statement was issued on 11 February during the Aero India 2025 show held in Bangalore.
A Safran source told Janes on 12 February that the JV will be ready in the middle of 2025. “Thereafter, it depends on BEL to determine how quickly it can set up a production line to manufacture the weapon,” the source said.
BEL had not commented on the matter at the time of publication. However, BEL chairman and managing director (CMD) Manoj Jain said in a statement that the JV will “localise” production of the Hammer, while “enabling the development of future variants”.
Janes understands that BEL will be able to sell the Hammer to external customers. The Hammer comes in four variants – the AASM 125, AASM 250, AASM 500, and AASM 1000 – depending on the weight of the munition. The variants also have varying ranges. However, Safran declined to specify the variants that BEL will produce.
“This is due to operational security reasons,” the source said.
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