Overview
- Prime ministers Narendra Modi and Sanae Takaichi announced and signed the co-development agreement on Monday, July 6, 2026, calling it the first formal defence co-development between the two countries.
- The project will adapt Japan’s UNICORN unified complex radio antenna, a compact integrated mast that bundles electronic surveillance, communications, datalinks and IFF under a frequency-selective radome to reduce a ship’s radar signature.
- UNICORN is already fitted to Japan’s Mogami-class frigates, giving India an operational reference for performance and integration as it plans to fit a derivative to its next-generation warships.
- Indian firms named in coverage include Bharat Electronics Limited and Mazagon Dock, while Japanese suppliers cited include NEC, Sampa Kogyo and Yokohama Rubber, but exact roles, licensing terms and production responsibilities remain to be defined.
- Beyond hardware, the deal marks a strategic shift toward closer India–Japan defence industrial ties and raises near-term questions about technology transfer, export controls, local production content and how this work will relate to India’s earlier Indigenous Integrated Mast effort.