Bangalore, Feb 9 (IANS) Cassidian, the defence and security division of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), Wednesday said it has opened a new engineering centre, the first of its kind from a global defence firm stable, in the city.

The centre will work in the areas of radars, protection suites, avionics, information technology and three dimensional visual simulation, aero-structure and aerospace modelling and simulation.

"This is the first defence-oriented engineering centre operated by a foreign company in India and therefore a landmark achievement towards Cassidian's strategic goal to establish a long-term partnership with India," the company's chief executive officer Stefan Zoller said here.

The new centre is staffed almost entirely by Indian engineers who have undergone extensive training in Europe. It has plans to increase the current number of 60 employees to over 200 by the end of 2012.

"The centre in Bangalore is a perfect example of our commitment to increase our industrial footprint in this rapidly growing country and to create a wide range of opportunities for industrial cooperation," Zoller said.

The centre will be the first Cassidian engineering development effort outside Europe. It will be integrated with the firm's engineering organisation to participate in Indian and global programmes