Indian Air Force to Join MBDA to Establish MRO for MICA Missiles for Rafales
Rafale fighter jets. Image courtesy: @SpokespersonMoD
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will join hands with European missile maker MBDA to set up a Maintenance, Repair, and Mid-Life Overhaul (MRO) facility in India for the MICA missiles that arm the Rafale fighter jets.
MBDA announced on Wednesday (May 6, 2026) that it has signed an agreement with the IAF for developing local MRO capability. The company, in a statement, said the MRO would be set up, operated, and maintained by the IAF with MBDA help.
The company would supply the required industrial machinery and tools, data packages, and training and technical support for the MRO facility in India.
“Developing these facilities locally will foster long-term capability building, secure technical expertise for years to come, and develop India’s strategic autonomy, reflecting the core principles of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the ambitious campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2020,” the statement said.
The facility would help India’s domestic defence sustainment effort, improving turnaround times, with capacity to support MICA missiles throughout the duration of their time in service, significantly enhancing the operational capability and readiness of the Indian armed forces, it said. India and MBDA share a long history of partnership in equipping the IAF going back to the early days of air-to-air missiles. Throughout its history, the IAF has relied on MBDA’s missile systems to provide the latest air combat performance across a number of different aircraft types.
“MBDA today has two focuses: providing the highest performing missile technologies to the Indian armed forces, and secondly supporting Atmanirbhar Bharat as part of MBDA’s longstanding partnership strategy with India,” the company said.
“With a strong reputation as a reliable partner that has supported the Indian Air Force for over 50 years, European missile firm MBDA understands the importance of operational capability and sovereignty to the IAF,” it said.
“For these reasons, the company has strongly committed to ‘Make in India’, to deliver both industrial sovereignty and the best military equipment to India,” it added.
