145;Bofors146; parent gets back name

The closure of the two decade-old Bofors kickbacks case is a welcome change, here in this little industrial town three hours from the Swedis...

The closure of the two decade-old Bofors kickbacks case is a welcome change, here in this little industrial town three hours from the Swedish Capital. This, when the Bofors Defence AB based here, has little to do with the original AB Bofors that was blacklisted after the famous kickbacks case in 1986.

But for the parent company of SWS, Bofors Defence AB, the clean chit given by the Delhi High Court on June 2 has helped rebuild its name. Chairman of SWS Defence, Haken Kangert told The Indian Express, 8216;8216;We are very glad it has ended. This is fine from an image point of view. From a legal point of view, it doesn8217;t matter, since our company now is not the same that was involved in the court case.8217;8217;

The firm which actually gains from the High Court clean chit is Netherlands-based Kartongen Kemi 038; Forv AB, which purchased the chemical businesses and legal liabilities of AB Bofors in 2000. The artillery and land systems concern was purchased in the same year by United Defense in the US.

Bofors is now gearing up for one of the largest take-overs it has seen so far. Next week, United Defense will be completely bought over by UK-based BAe Systems, a firm that has been a supplier to India since the 1950s, with deals stretching right from the Jaguar fighter-bombers to the recent purchase of Hawk advanced jet trainers. Bofors Defence AB, will now be renamed BAe Systems Bofors and SWS will remain an India-specific subsidiary. 8216;8216;We are looking at the takeover with great expectation. BAe Systems will allow us to enter markets that we haven8217;t looked at before. On its part, it gets a large break into the American market. European defence markets are now stagnant,8217;8217; said Kangert, who also sits on the Bofors Defence Board.

In a sense, for the employees of SWS and Bofors Defence here, the acquittal is a sign that the company may rest, and its name an inadvert political weapon in New Delhi for twenty years, may get back some of its own, especially since Bofors is now bidding for some of the Army8217;s most ambitious artillery projects.

With the final third round of trials for 155mm towed artillery guns finishing only last month Bofors received confirmation from New Delhi only yesterday that it may transport its trial Howitzer out of India, Bofors will now wait for an order that could encompass a staggering 1,000 pieces of artillery of the FH77-B5-L52 variety to arm 50 artillery regiments, a substantially more modern variation of the L39 gun, 400 of which AB Bofors sold to India in 1986. It was these guns that became mascots to the Indian army after their decisive performance in Kargil.