Japan and India Forge a New Defence Partnership: A Game-Changer for Global Security

The defence industry is on the cusp of a significant shift, one that could unlock India's vast manufacturing potential. Japan, a country known for its advanced defence technologies, is now looking to leverage India's massive production base. This emerging model, dubbed 'Design in Japan, Make in India,' is not just about relocating production lines, but a strategic collaboration that could extend beyond warships.

The partnership between Japan and India has been gaining momentum, with the two countries agreeing to explore joint naval shipbuilding and design. This collaboration is expected to combine Japan's technological expertise with India's production capabilities, creating a winning formula. The ultimate goal is to deepen discussions on using India's manufacturing ecosystem under the 'Make in India' framework.

Japan's revised defence-export regime, which was revised in April 2026, has created greater room for international defence cooperation. This revised regime has allowed Japan to move forward with defence-equipment and technology cooperation with India. The UNICORN integrated communications antenna system is already an important test case, with India and Japan working towards transferring the Japanese-origin system to India.

The Japanese Defence Ministry has described UNICORN as the first defence-equipment transfer project between the two countries. Both sides are committed to its early implementation, and this could become a template for future collaborations. Japan provides the technology, design expertise, and intellectual property under an agreed framework, while Indian industry provides manufacturing capacity, supply-chain depth, and potentially lower-cost scalable production.

For Japan, there is another potential advantage to this partnership: supply-chain resilience. The global defence industry has discovered a painful reality over the past several years. Modern weapons require enormous numbers of specialised components, and production can become vulnerable when manufacturing is concentrated in a small number of facilities or countries. Establishing an additional production ecosystem in India could theoretically provide Tokyo with another manufacturing option for selected non-sensitive components, subsystems, or even complete systems.

The India-Japan security declaration already explicitly identifies supply-chain resilience as an area of cooperation. The two countries agreed to explore co-development and co-production, technology sharing, and supply-chain linkages in sectors critical to national security. India has a huge industrial workforce, expanding private-sector defence companies, large shipyards, extensive engineering capacity, and a government increasingly pushing localisation. Japan brings advanced technologies, design expertise, manufacturing standards, and decades of experience in sophisticated defence systems.

The combination is obvious. Japan could increasingly provide the 'technology and design,' while India could provide part of the 'scale and manufacturing.' There is also an export angle. India is no longer interested only in producing weapons for its own armed forces. New Delhi increasingly wants to become a defence exporter. The government has explicitly promoted the 'Make for the World' concept alongside Make in India, while India's defence production reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY2025-26 according to the Defence Ministry.

A Japanese-designed system manufactured in India could potentially be exported to selected third countries, subject to Japanese export permissions. This would give Japanese companies something they have historically lacked: access to a large, cost-competitive manufacturing ecosystem combined with India's growing network of defence relationships. India could also gain from the arrangement because it would not simply be assembling imported equipment. If structured correctly, this partnership could unlock new opportunities for both countries, and potentially become a game-changer for global security.

A Strategic Partnership

The partnership between Japan and India is not just about defence equipment, but a strategic collaboration that could extend beyond warships. The two countries are exploring joint naval shipbuilding and design, combining Japan's technological expertise with India's production capabilities.

Supply-Chain Resilience

Japan's revised defence-export regime has created greater room for international defence cooperation. This revised regime has allowed Japan to move forward with defence-equipment and technology cooperation with India. The UNICORN integrated communications antenna system is already an important test case.

Export Opportunities

India is no longer interested only in producing weapons for its own armed forces. New Delhi increasingly wants to become a defence exporter. A Japanese-designed system manufactured in India could potentially be exported to selected third countries, subject to Japanese export permissions.

Key Takeaways

• The partnership between Japan and India is not just about defence equipment, but a strategic collaboration that could extend beyond warships.
• Japan's revised defence-export regime has created greater room for international defence cooperation.
• India is no longer interested only in producing weapons for its own armed forces, and is increasingly looking to become a defence exporter.