Tata, EADS to bid jointly for Indian Army project

India's Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata speaks during a news conference after the launch of company's new ''Nano'' car at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi January 10, 2008. India's Tata Advanced Systems said on Saturday it planned to form a partnership with an arm of European plane-maker EADS to bid for the Indian Army's $1 billion tactical communications system project.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Tata Advanced Systems said on Saturday it planned to form a partnership with an arm of European plane-maker EADS (EAD.PA) to bid for the Indian Army's $1 billion tactical communications system project.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.BO), India's largest software service exporter, and Tata Power SED would also partner EADS Defense & Security in the project expected to be announced later this year, the company said in a statement.

EADS Defense & Security would be the system design authority responsible for the network architectural design and integration, the statement said.

Separately, Tata Advanced Systems said it would jointly explore opportunities with Israel's Urban Aeronautics for manufacturing and marketing unmanned aerial vehicles.

(Reporting by Arpan Mukherjee; Editing by Mike Peacock)