India, Japan look at joint naval shipbuilding, technology transfer with pact to deepen defence ties
India and Japan signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Security Cooperation, opening avenues for joint development and design of naval ships
The arrangement provides for greater use of Indian shipbuilding and repair facilities by Japan, alongside reciprocal ship-repair and logistical support arrangements between the two navies
The UNICORN integrated mast system, co-developed with a Japanese technology partner, was identified as the first defence equipment project to move from a technology-transfer agreement into actual co-development and licensed production between the two countries
A public sector Indian defence electronics manufacturer will produce the system domestically in collaboration with the Japanese side, under the broader "Make in India" defence production framework
Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 — Technology Transfer and "Make in India" Categories
Defence procurement in India is governed by the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, issued by the Ministry of Defence, which lays down the categories under which the armed forces can acquire equipment and prioritises indigenous design, development and manufacture over imports.
Key Details
- DAP 2020 procurement categories, in order of preference: Buy (Indian-IDDM — Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured), Buy (Indian), Buy and Make (Indian — indigenous manufacture with foreign collaboration/technology transfer), Buy (Global — Manufacture in India), and Buy (Global)
- Minimum indigenous content requirement was raised to 50% for most categories under DAP 2020 (from 40% under the earlier Defence Procurement Procedure)
- The Ministry of Defence has separately notified successive "Positive Indigenisation Lists" of platforms and components banned for import, to be sourced domestically instead, reinforcing the Atmanirbhar Bharat push in defence production
A licensed co-production project such as UNICORN — where Japan supplies the core design and India undertakes system integration and manufacture — is a textbook instance of the "Buy and Make" / technology-transfer route DAP 2020 was designed to institutionalise.
UNICORN Integrated Mast System — India's First Co-Developed Platform with Japan
UNICORN (also called NORA-50) is an advanced integrated ship mast that consolidates multiple communication, surveillance and identification antennas — normally mounted separately and exposed across a warship's superstructure — into a single enclosed, radar-signature-reducing structure. It was originally developed by a Japanese industrial consortium for Japan's Mogami-class frigates.
Key Details
- Integrated masts of this kind combine surveillance radar, electronic support measures (ESM), IFF (identification friend-or-foe), tactical navigation and VHF/UHF/Link-16 communication antennas into one unit, reducing radar cross-section and topside clutter
- Under the arrangement, Japan provides the design and core technologies while the Indian side undertakes system integration, localisation and production — the standard division of labour in a licensed technology-transfer project
- This is described as the first project to move from India-Japan's standing defence equipment and technology transfer framework into actual joint development and production, distinguishing it from earlier cooperation that remained at the dialogue or logistics-sharing stage
UNICORN is the concrete technological outcome that the new Memorandum's "joint development of naval ships and design" and "technology transfer" language is intended to scale up — from a single antenna-mast project to broader shipbuilding collaboration.
Foreign Navies Using Indian Shipyards — A Widening Pattern
Japan's proposed use of Indian shipbuilding and repair facilities fits a broader pattern of India positioning its shipyards as a regional maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub for partner-country navies, distinct from India's own warship construction programme.
Key Details
- India signed Master Ship Repair Agreements (MSRAs) with the US Navy in 2023 — first with a private shipyard (July 2023) and then with the public sector Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (September 2023) — enabling repair and maintenance of US Navy vessels at Indian yards
- India's principal warship-building yards include Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (Mumbai), Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (Kolkata), Cochin Shipyard (Kochi) and Goa Shipyard — all public sector undertakings central to indigenous naval construction
- Comparable ship-repair and logistics frameworks exist bilaterally through Logistics Exchange Memorandums of Agreement/Arrangement (LEMOA-type agreements), which India has signed with multiple partner navies to enable reciprocal access to designated facilities, distinct from full basing arrangements
The Japan arrangement extends this MRO-hub trend to a second major Indo-Pacific navy after the US, reinforcing India's positioning as a shipbuilding and logistics partner for like-minded Indo-Pacific states without amounting to a formal basing agreement.
- DAP 2020 minimum indigenous content requirement: raised to 50% for most acquisition categories (from 40% earlier)
- DAP 2020 acquisition categories (preference order): Buy (Indian-IDDM), Buy (Indian), Buy and Make (Indian), Buy (Global – Manufacture in India), Buy (Global)
- UNICORN/NORA-50 integrated mast: originally developed for Japan's Mogami-class frigates; first India-Japan co-development and licensed-production defence project
- India-US Master Ship Repair Agreements: signed 2023 (private shipyard, July; Mazagon Dock, September) — enable US Navy ship repair at Indian yards
- Major Indian public sector warship-building yards: Mazagon Dock (Mumbai), GRSE (Kolkata), Cochin Shipyard (Kochi), Goa Shipyard