INDIAN MRO: Pipavav Defense and Offshore Ltd., India’s largest shipbuilder by market value, has signed an agreement with Airbus SAS and SKIL Infrastructure to develop aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities for both civilian and military applications in India. “The first phase [of] MRO facilities and associated infrastructure are likely to cost $100 million,” a Pipavav Defense official says. Initially, Airbus parent company EADS will have a 26% stake in the project and may raise it to 49%. Pipavav Defense will hold 51%, the official says.

Kingfisher Airlines, India’s second-largest airline by passengers carried, will close its low-cost operation, Kingfisher Red, Chairman Vijay Mallya says. “We are doing away with Kingfisher Red because we don’t intend to compete in the low-cost segment. We believe there are more than enough guests who prefer to travel full-service, and that shows in our own performance, where the load factors in [full-service] Kingfisher Class are more than in Kingfisher Red,” Mallya says.

NEW DELHI — India plans to conduct the first development flight of the long-range Agni-5 missile in December. “Agni-5 will take us to a level of 5,000-kilometer-plus ... missile systems, which meets all our threat requirements,” says V.K. Saraswat, chief of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). However, Saraswat adds, “Though India has the capability of developing long-range missiles, we are not developing any intercontinental ballistic missiles. Our threat perception today doesn’t require developing any ICBMs.”