According to sources familiar with the development, the integration of BDL's Advanced Short Range Air-To-Air Missile (ASRAAM) on TEJAS is in the final stages of integration by HAL and BDL. Carriage and Captive trials is expected to start this year.

MBDA, Europe’s leading missile manufacturer, has signed an agreement with Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) of India for the final assembly, integration and test (FAIT) of Mistral and ASRAAM missiles in India.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at DSEI in London by George Kyriakides, Director of International Industrial Co-operation at MBDA, and Commodore Siddharth Mishra (Retd.), Chairman & Managing Director of BDL.

BDL is a major Indian weapon systems integrator and has supplied more than 130,000 weapon systems to domestic and foreign customers. MBDA has a long and highly successful history of working with BDL for the past 50 years, which has already seen over 50,000 MBDA-designed  missiles manufactured in India.

ASRAAM is India’s New Generation Close Combat Missile. With its large rocket motor and clean aerodynamic design, ASRAAM has unrivalled speed, aerodynamic manoeuvrability and range. The IAF’s Jaguar aircraft are the first Indian platform to receive this cutting-edge air-combat missile. The ASRAAM is a within visual range air dominance weapon. It is a new generation close combat missile. Its low drag, aerodynamic airframe, unrivalled speed and manoeuvrability throughout its flight and increased agility make it the best missile in its category of weapons. The missile has full ‘Lock On Before Launch’ and ‘Lock On After Launch’ operating modes.

METEOR Integration

In another significant development, MBDA may agree to integrate its Advanced Meteor missiles on TEJASs synced with DRDO's UTTAM AESA Radar. Meteor & UTTAM combination will be deadly combo against all 4.5 gen fighters of PAF& PLAAF.

It was reported earlier that numerous attempts by Indian Air Force (IAF) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to convince European defence frim MBDA, developer and manufacturer of Meteor missiles to allow the missile system to be integrated into India’s TEJAS MK-1A fighter jets. MBDA refused to differ from its stand taken by the company earlier on integration of long-range air to air missile systems on India’s TEJAS MK-1A .

MBDA officials last year had told HAL and IAF that governments of European countries who own majority of the shares in the company have imposed a ban on the integration of long-range Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile on Non-European fire control radars to protect the sensitive technology of the missile system which is considered as the best Air-to-Air missile in the world.

And according to a report by a defence analysis website, Pakistan and China doesn't posses a missile in the range and lethality of the Meteor, which have been equipped on Rafale combat planes currently being operated by IAF along the borders of Pakistan and China.