India - Israel Relations : News and Updates
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Israel looks to shift defence manufacturing to India as bilateral ties move beyond buyer–seller model
The Netanyahu government’s move to diversify defence production outside Israel stems from declining military exports to India, which is now focusing on self-reliance to reduce import dependence
By Dalip Singh
Updated- December 09, 2025, at 05:11 PM | Tel Aviv/Jerusalem
Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh (right) and Director General of Israeli Ministry of Defence Maj Gen (Res) Amir Baram co-chair the 17th India-Israel Joint Working Group meeting in Tel Aviv.
India and Israel are moving beyond a traditional buyer–seller relationship, with Tel Aviv now actively exploring investments in India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat defence initiative and shifting manufacturing of unmanned systems and other weapons platforms to India.
This was underscored during Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh’s visit to Israel in early November. Singh co-chaired the India-Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting in Tel Aviv, where the two sides signed a new MoU on defence cooperation aimed at deepening ties through joint development, co-production of defence systems, and advanced technology sharing, including AI and cyber, training and R&D.
Sources in the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli government confirmed that both governments are working to combine Israel’s innovation ecosystem with India’s engineering strengths to produce ‘Make in India, for the World’ defence products. The transformation will be visible in the next six months to one year, a senior diplomat from the Indian Embassy stated.
The Netanyahu government’s move to diversify defence production outside Israel also stems from declining military exports to India, which is now focusing on self-reliance to reduce import dependence. India has also broadened the procurement of equipment towards the US and France to manage global supply chain constraints arising out of ongoing conflicts.
Israel’s share of India’s arms imports has steadily declined from its peak of roughly 34 per cent in 2015-2019 to around 9 per cent in 2018-2022, and continued to soften further by 2020-2024, according to the annual reports of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Sweden-based independent global institute. But Israel still remains among the top three exporters of arms to India, rallying behind Russia and France.
Exports to India, however, are controlled by top Israeli government and private defence companies — Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), Rafael, and Elbit Systems. They account for 80-85 per cent of Israel’s defence exports. But the Israeli government is now pushing its MSMEs and start-ups to explore the Indian market, said a Netanyahu government official privy to defence trade.
“We have common interest, common challenges and common symmetric threats. If we produce together and export together, it will be better for us strategically,” said the official, underlining the similarities that have held the bilateral defence partnership together for decades.
But, strong export control regulation of US is a matter of concern for Israel, they admit.
Joint ventures
That said, some joint ventures for production in India are already operational for a while. For instance, IWI has set up local co-production in India through a joint venture (JV) with an Indian firm, PLR Systems — part of Adani Defence & Aerospace — for small arms. IWI will supply the first batch of 40,000 Negev light machine guns (LMGs) to India starting early next year, said CEO Shuki Schwartz during an interaction at its facility in Kiryat Gat.
Similarly, a senior official with Elbit Systems, who did not wish to reveal his identity, said his company has also shut shop in Israel and moved to India for co-production. Elbit Systems has partnered with Adani Defence & Aerospace to build a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad to produce the Hermes 900 MALE UAV. While the Indian Army and Indian Air Force have already inducted the platform, the Indian Navy has also opted for it during Emergency Procurement after Op Sindoor, an Elbit official stated.
Israeli firms are also sourcing materials, parts and sub-systems from India, with Elbit alone having 200–250 vendors to augment its supply chain — valued for high performance, good engineering and competitive pricing, an Israeli company official stated.
Looking to expand in India, a senior official from IAI said on condition of anonymity that “as an industry, we are very aware of the Make in India initiative, and we are working very hard towards that with our partners”. IAI has partnered with HAL and Alcom to produce Heron Mk-II UAVs in India, and has bid for a ₹30,000 crore tender for 87 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones. Herons were used during Operation Sindoor.
The trade is not one way, many companies are travelling to Israel to grab a pie of their defence industry, said the Indian diplomat.
(The writer was in Israel on an invitation of the Israeli government)
Israel looks to shift defence manufacturing to India as bilateral ties move beyond buyer–seller model
The Netanyahu government’s move to diversify defence production outside Israel stems from declining military exports to India, which is now focusing on self-reliance to reduce import dependence
By Dalip Singh
Updated- December 09, 2025, at 05:11 PM | Tel Aviv/Jerusalem
Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh (right) and Director General of Israeli Ministry of Defence Maj Gen (Res) Amir Baram co-chair the 17th India-Israel Joint Working Group meeting in Tel Aviv.
India and Israel are moving beyond a traditional buyer–seller relationship, with Tel Aviv now actively exploring investments in India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat defence initiative and shifting manufacturing of unmanned systems and other weapons platforms to India.
This was underscored during Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh’s visit to Israel in early November. Singh co-chaired the India-Israel Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting in Tel Aviv, where the two sides signed a new MoU on defence cooperation aimed at deepening ties through joint development, co-production of defence systems, and advanced technology sharing, including AI and cyber, training and R&D.
Sources in the Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli government confirmed that both governments are working to combine Israel’s innovation ecosystem with India’s engineering strengths to produce ‘Make in India, for the World’ defence products. The transformation will be visible in the next six months to one year, a senior diplomat from the Indian Embassy stated.
The Netanyahu government’s move to diversify defence production outside Israel also stems from declining military exports to India, which is now focusing on self-reliance to reduce import dependence. India has also broadened the procurement of equipment towards the US and France to manage global supply chain constraints arising out of ongoing conflicts.
Israel’s share of India’s arms imports has steadily declined from its peak of roughly 34 per cent in 2015-2019 to around 9 per cent in 2018-2022, and continued to soften further by 2020-2024, according to the annual reports of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a Sweden-based independent global institute. But Israel still remains among the top three exporters of arms to India, rallying behind Russia and France.
Exports to India, however, are controlled by top Israeli government and private defence companies — Israel Aerospace Industries, Israel Weapon Industries (IWI), Rafael, and Elbit Systems. They account for 80-85 per cent of Israel’s defence exports. But the Israeli government is now pushing its MSMEs and start-ups to explore the Indian market, said a Netanyahu government official privy to defence trade.
“We have common interest, common challenges and common symmetric threats. If we produce together and export together, it will be better for us strategically,” said the official, underlining the similarities that have held the bilateral defence partnership together for decades.
But, strong export control regulation of US is a matter of concern for Israel, they admit.
Joint ventures
That said, some joint ventures for production in India are already operational for a while. For instance, IWI has set up local co-production in India through a joint venture (JV) with an Indian firm, PLR Systems — part of Adani Defence & Aerospace — for small arms. IWI will supply the first batch of 40,000 Negev light machine guns (LMGs) to India starting early next year, said CEO Shuki Schwartz during an interaction at its facility in Kiryat Gat.
Similarly, a senior official with Elbit Systems, who did not wish to reveal his identity, said his company has also shut shop in Israel and moved to India for co-production. Elbit Systems has partnered with Adani Defence & Aerospace to build a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad to produce the Hermes 900 MALE UAV. While the Indian Army and Indian Air Force have already inducted the platform, the Indian Navy has also opted for it during Emergency Procurement after Op Sindoor, an Elbit official stated.
Israeli firms are also sourcing materials, parts and sub-systems from India, with Elbit alone having 200–250 vendors to augment its supply chain — valued for high performance, good engineering and competitive pricing, an Israeli company official stated.
Looking to expand in India, a senior official from IAI said on condition of anonymity that “as an industry, we are very aware of the Make in India initiative, and we are working very hard towards that with our partners”. IAI has partnered with HAL and Alcom to produce Heron Mk-II UAVs in India, and has bid for a ₹30,000 crore tender for 87 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones. Herons were used during Operation Sindoor.
The trade is not one way, many companies are travelling to Israel to grab a pie of their defence industry, said the Indian diplomat.
(The writer was in Israel on an invitation of the Israeli government)
Israel looks to shift defence manufacturing to India as bilateral ties move beyond buyer–seller model
Incorrect news, the $8.6 billion is for the entire weapons cache cleared by DAC on 29th December.
Now there are string of articles and you tube videos claiming 8.6 billion $ purchase from Israel..
Saw them. Most are just copies of one another with a few tweaks here and there. No one bothered to cross verify the actual amount being allocated.
India to explore anti-ballistic missile defence with Israel
While both countries are expected to sign an MoU on security cooperation, no defence deal will be signed. | World News
www.hindustantimes.com
By Shishir Gupta
On the eve of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Israel, India is looking to deepen and expand strategic ties and defence cooperation, which includes joint development of anti-ballistic missile defence, laser weapons and long range stand-off missiles and drones. PM Modi will be visiting Israel from February 25-26.
While both countries are expected to sign an MoU on security cooperation, no defence deal will be signed between the two countries as bilateral defence cooperation is an on-going process between two very close allies and is worth around USD 10 billion over the next years.
Even though the two sides are tight-lipped about PM Modi’s visit, it is understood that Israel has agreed to share latest defence technologies with India includes much sought after hi-tech laser defence and other stand-off systems. Israel is expected to share all defence technologies, something it had not done in the past years.
The foundation to this expanded defence cooperation was laid during Defence Secretary RK Singh’s visit to Israel last November in which an MoU on expanded defence cooperation was signed.
India is exploring joint development of anti-ballistic missile defence with Israel, which is the key to Mission Sudershan or ensuring that Indian hinterland is protected from enemy long range missiles. Mission Sudershan was announced by PM Modi and is at the heart of Indian anti-ballistic missile defence. Israel is a leader in anti-ballistic missile system with long range Arrow, medium range David’s Sling and short range Iron Dome system. Tel Aviv has a proven system as it intercepted 98 per cent of ballistic missile fired by Iran last June.
India is also looking to buy long range missiles and loitering ammunition, which can be launched by air, ground and sea beyond the air defence system of enemy nations. During Operation Sindoor, India used Rampage missiles, Palm 400, Harpy and Harop kamikaze loitering ammunition against Pakistani targets and nearly wiped out enemy’s Chinese built air defences with strikes as deep as Islamabad. In this category, India will buy Spice 1000 long range glided bombs, Rampage air to surface missile used to destroy terrorist training camp during Op Sindoor, Air Lora air launched ballistic missiles and long range Ice Breaker missile system. Besides, India Navy is looking to purchase extended range Barak surface to missile system to protect its warships from enemy air and surface launched missiles.
Given that PM Modi has close ties with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two countries are on the same page on a host of political issues and speak in one voice against terrorism. During the visit, India and Israel will be holding dialogue science and technology, agriculture and clean drinking water apart from high end quantum computing.
the BMD part should remain at consultancy, experience sharing of Anti- Ballistic missile operations and networks.
Anything above that or direct import of Arrow system will be equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.
Anything above that or direct import of Arrow system will be equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.
There are rumors/reports that Israel has offered it's Golden horizon ALBM for IAFs su30 aircrafts.
Weight- 1.9 ton-2 ton
Range- 800-1000km
Performance Slightly above R-III.
I have no particular opinion about this one, could be a alternative to Brahmos (if cheaper) but I'll wait to know what R-IV missile brings to the table. (At the end, it' is still just an offer)
More worrying news is that GoI is looking at jV for BMD/SAM (Atleast that is what some people are calling it)
If its something similar to Barak-8, then good luck paying for the development.
Weight- 1.9 ton-2 ton
Range- 800-1000km
Performance Slightly above R-III.
I have no particular opinion about this one, could be a alternative to Brahmos (if cheaper) but I'll wait to know what R-IV missile brings to the table. (At the end, it' is still just an offer)
More worrying news is that GoI is looking at jV for BMD/SAM (Atleast that is what some people are calling it)
If its something similar to Barak-8, then good luck paying for the development.
Any purchase of Arrow 3/4 like BMD system requires US Congressional approval since US co-developed and funded it.
We initiated our own BMD program because the US blocked the off the shelf procurement of Arrow 2 by us.
My guess this co-development would likely be related to Early Warning radars and nothing more than that.
The IAF has already acquired the ROCKS ALBM which will likely be supplemented by R3 in due course. Otoh, the Air LORA is likely going on the IN P-8I.
Both are tactical weapons which complement Brahmos and are perfect for taking out HDBT targets. I don't see the use case for something like Golden Horizon against Pak (or even China for that matter)
As for BMD, IAI may be offering ToT/localization of its Ultra and Terra radars already in Indian service to stave off competition from Russian firms.
Both are tactical weapons which complement Brahmos and are perfect for taking out HDBT targets. I don't see the use case for something like Golden Horizon against Pak (or even China for that matter)
As for BMD, IAI may be offering ToT/localization of its Ultra and Terra radars already in Indian service to stave off competition from Russian firms.
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So Rudram 3 program going to khabristan. Ballistic missile is the only area DRDO have expertise on par with world powers, why we are buying this when we have in house program running.
Their Stunner is an unparallel weapon, there is nothing wrong if we are getting this technology from Israel.
I think it's more to create redundancy. We are creating rudram 4 too. So it's basically to have a wider choice of weapons.
Rudram series is a weapon for attritional warfare. The israelis systems are something to be used in the initial stages of the war to have decapitating effect.
Problem with Rudram 3 & israrli ABMs are, currently MKI is capable of carrying in to battlefield. MKI, ii don't think we will be using beyond 2040 as a spearhead platform due to its age.
Hope we will pursue a bomber platform to carry these weapons in future.
