Weststar Group Appointed Main Contractor FOR MINDEF's VSHORAD Purchase

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 (Bernama) -- Weststar Group has been appointed the main contractor for Malaysia's Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) procurement of the STARStreak Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) system from Thales Air Defence Ltd UK. Weststar Group Managing Director, Syed Azman, said the deal involved MINDEF upgrading its existing missile defence system by capitalising on the trade-in opportunity for the previous Starburst missiles with the much-improved Starstreak missiles. "This has enabled MINDEF to realise substantial savings in the process," he said in a statement here Monday. Weststar said the Malaysian defence industry would also benefit through the offset programme offered by THALES, including the transfer of technology in hardware and software applications that correlated to the system as well as in other related fields. Thales has also offered training packages for the smooth operation over the life cycle of the system, it said. Weststar Group is a diversified regional corporate group based in Malaysia, with business interest in the automotive, aviation, construction, defence and engineering sectors. --BERNAMA