Overview
- Leaders formally announced the agreement on Thursday, July 2, with Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sanae Takaichi saying India will co‑produce the UNICORN integrated radio‑antenna mast under a bilateral defence pact.
- Japan’s consortium led by NEC, with Sampa Kogyo and Yokohama Rubber, supplies the core UNICORN design that encloses multiple antennas in a low‑RCS radome to cut a ship’s radar cross‑section and host data links, TACAN, IFF, communications and ESM sensors.
- Bharat Electronics Limited will lead co‑production and integration in India under Make in India, with the agreement structured to include technology transfer, training, sustainment planning and supply‑chain workstreams.
- The programme is at an early implementation stage and will next pass through detailed design reviews, prototyping, shipboard trials on Indian platforms and testing before any serial fitment takes place.
- The deal reflects Tokyo’s post‑2014 easing of defence transfer rules and signals deeper India–Japan security industrial ties intended to strengthen maritime security, bolster networked naval operations, and expand India’s domestic defence manufacturing capacity.