INTERVIEW: Dassault Group has a software services unit in India offering defense MSMEs a digital “test room” where they can test their products to secure more contracts

• The Indian government has started awarding defense procurement contracts to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
• The Dassault group’s software services subsidiary, Dassault Systèmes, which already works with companies such as NASA, Airbus and Boeing, sees an opportunity to allow these MSMEs to honor these contracts.
• It is currently in preliminary talks to set up a ‘common shared infrastructure model’ with state governments – such as Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – where MSMEs can design, test and start deploying defense products. technology-based.

Everyone in India knows that the French fighter maker Dassault Aviation has made the deal with India to deliver the Rafale, despite all the controversies surrounding it. But did you know that its parent company, the Dassault Group, has a subsidiary that provides engineering software, much like Microsoft and Oracle – and has an office in India?

The software subsidiary, Dassault Systèmes, seeks to create roads in the country by capitalizing on the pressure of the Modi administration on Atma Nirbhar Bharat (autonomous India).

As part of massive reforms introduced last year, the Indian government is now awarding defense procurement contracts to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to boost national defense manufacturing.

“The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has planned to invest around 63% of spending for 2021-2022 – around 70,221 crore – in domestic purchases. This increase will have a positive impact on improving domestic purchasing, having a multiplier effect on our industries, including MSMEs and startups, ”said the Minister of Defense. Rajnath singh during a webinar on February 22. A “fund of funds” worth 10,000 crore has been specially created for startups and MSMEs.

Source: Various reports

Dassault Systèmes wishes to capitalize on this opportunity by introducing what they call a “common shared infrastructure model”, which is essentially a center of innovation. He is currently in talks with state governments seeking to establish industrial defense corridors. Namely, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as identified by Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman.

“We are working with the government to create a ‘common shared infrastructure model’ where the government and Dassault Systèmes will invest to create the model. MSMEs will take advantage of the model and the technologies housed therein, so that they are also high in the technology adoption ladder, ”said Ravikiran Pothukuchi, Director of Dassault Systèmes at Business Insider US in an exclusive interview. .

Dassault Systèmes is already the second largest player in the computer-aided design (CAD) software market after Siemens. Essentially, it is the use of computers to aid in the creation, modification, analysis and optimization of a product.

Its clients include bigwigs like Boeing, Airbus, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its sister company, Dassault Aviation. In India, its customers include Ashok Leyland, Suprajit, India’s largest cable manufacturer, and drone maker General Aeronautics.

“What we have achieved is that the MSME defense ecosystem [micro, small and medium enterprises] don’t have the wavelength to invest in these technologies, ”said Ravikiran Pothukuchi, director of Dassault Systèmes at Business Insider US in an exclusive interview.

What is a “common shared infrastructure model”?
A “shared infrastructure model” is essentially a stage where defense manufacturing companies and startups can come in, play with their ideas and test their concepts, both in the virtual and physical world.

“[The companies] resume their learning and industrialize on a large scale in their operations, ”explained Pothukuchi. “This is the idea that we are also discussing locally. There are governments that have shown interest.

The French IT services company already has a similar establishment in the American state of Wichita in collaboration with Wichita State University. The state of Wichita is the aerospace hub of the United States, like Bengaluru.

“Governments initially help them adapt to these technologies and we will become relevant to them at a later date. It’s an investment we’re making with the government, ”the IIM-Bengaluru graduate told Business Insider.

He hopes that the plan to roll out the model will take shape in the coming months.

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