India, Japan Sign First Defence Co-Development Deal on UNICORN Antenna
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- India and Japan signed an agreement for co-development of a naval radio antenna based on Japan's UNICORN system during PM Sanae Takaichi's visit, which PM Narendra Modi called the 'first-ever co-development project between India and Japan' in defence
- India–Japan defence cooperation had previously been limited to joint exercises and research; the Shinmaywa US-2 seaplane procurement was discussed for years before being shelved, and DRDO–ATLA had only previously researched Visual SLAM based GNSS Augmentation Technology for UGVs
- UNICORN discussions date to 2022; in 2024, both nations' foreign and defence ministers 'appreciated the progress made for the transfer of Unified Complex Radio Antenna and related technologies,' with the system currently fitted to JMSDF Mogami-class frigates
- The Indian Navy is likely to equip its next-generation warships with a UNICORN derivative, and in 2025, MDL indicated preliminary discussions on a common India–Japan destroyer design
- Japan's UNICORN was jointly developed by three firms — NEC (prime contractor, hardware integration, TACAN), Sampa Kogyo (antenna technologies), and Yokohama Rubber (frequency selective radome) — integrating ESM, COMINT, UHF, V/UHF, LINK-16 and TACAN antennas onto a single stealth mast
- India's parallel Indigenous Integrated Mast (IIM) programme, in development with Bharat Electronics Limited since at least DefExpo 2022, may be merged with the localized UNICORN adaptation; Phase-II envisaged an 8–11m mast with a frequency selective radome
Why it matters: The pact moves India–Japan defence ties from exercises and shelved procurement talks (Shinmaywa US-2) into actual joint production, giving three Japanese firms — NEC, Sampa Kogyo and Yokohama Rubber — a direct line into India's next-generation warship build rather than the parallel Indigenous Integrated Mast that BEL had been developing with the Indian Navy's Directorate of Electrical Engineering.
