Indian defence exports: From BrahMos to Akash, who are the major buyers?

India's defence exports touched a record Rs 21,083 crore in FY24

The United States (US), France, and Armenia have emerged as the top three destinations for Indian defence exports, with Armenia in particular being the biggest client of 'finished' Indian weapons and equipment like 155mm artillery guns and the Akash air defence missile and Pinaka multi-launch rocket systems, The Times of India reported on Monday, citing sources.

 

This comes at a time when India's defence exports have touched a record Rs 21,083 crore (approximately $2.63 billion) in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), amounting to a growth of 32.5 per cent over the previous financial year's figure of Rs 15,920 crore. According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), this figure indicates that Indian defence exports have grown by 31 times in the past 10 years, when compared to FY14.

 

 

What is India exporting in the defence sector?

 

The country's public and private sector defence companies are undertaking defence exports to around 100 countries, according to the national daily.

 

These exports include a wide range of arms, ammunition, and fuses. However, some complete weapon systems, such as the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, artillery guns, Dornier-228 aircraft, radars, Akash air defence missiles, Pinaka rockets, and armoured vehicles are also being exported by Indian firms. 

 

What defence products is India exporting to the US?

 

Defence exports to the US are mainly made up of subsystems and components, including fuselage, wings, and other parts of aircraft and helicopters to global defence majors like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the report explained. 

 

These global firms are sourcing these components from India as part of their global supply chain networks, as well as part of their offset commitments related to contracts they have won from India.

 

For example, the Tata Boeing Aerospace venture in Hyderabad is manufacturing the fuselage and secondary structures for the Apache attack helicopters. 

 

What about France?

 

While the report did not have elaborate details about what France is sourcing from India, an unnamed source was quoted as saying that India is exporting "a lot of software and electronic equipment" to the French in the defence sector.

 

What weapons is Armenia buying from India?

 

Armenia, a former Soviet Republic, has signed a number of deals with India over the last four years for 'finished' systems such as artillery guns, weapon-locating radars, missiles, rocket systems, bullet-proof vests, and night-vision equipment, reported the national daily. Armenia is also buying a wide variety of India-made ammunition and artillery shells. 

 

Some of these deals were reportedly inked during Armenia's conflict with Azerbaijan, which has close ties with Pakistan and Turkiye — over Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

According to an analysis by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D C–based defence policy think tank, Armenia became the largest foreign recipient of Indian weapons in 2020, with contracts between New Delhi and Yerevan amounting to an estimated $2 billion.

 

Under the $2-billion 2020 defence partnership, Armenia has acquired, or is in the process of acquiring, Indian-made weapon systems, including the Akash-1S air defence system. 

 

Armenia placed a $720-million order for 15 indigenously developed Akash-1S air defence systems in 2022, making it the Bharat Dynamics Limited platform's first international customer.

 

Against this backdrop, an Indian finance ministry report has stated that Armenia "has become the largest importer of weapons from India after concluding deals on the purchase of Pinaka multiple-launch rocket systems and Akash anti-aircraft systems."

 

To strengthen military ties with India, Armenia also appointed a defence attaché to its embassy in New Delhi in 2023.

 

Who else wants to buy India's Akash anti-aircraft missile system?

 

While Armenia is the first foreign customer for the air defence system, other countries like Brazil are also keen on the co-production and co-development of its advanced versions, added The Times of India report. One source told the national daily that Brazil "wants an inter-governmental agreement" regarding the Akash system, adding that "talks are underway".

 

What about BrahMos exports?

 

After India clinched a $375-million contract with the Philippines in 2022 for the export of three BrahMos anti-ship coastal missile batteries, other countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) grouping, along with some Gulf nations, are also showing increasing interest in acquiring the missiles that have been co-developed by India and Russia, added the national daily. 

 

Why does India still have a long way to go in defence self-sufficiency?

 

Despite the recent 'Aatmanirbharta' (self-reliance) efforts, India continued to be the world's largest arms importer, accounting for 9.8 per cent of total global imports, in the 2019-2023 period.

 

However, India has banned the import of certain weapon systems under its 'Aatmanirbharta' drive, and is aggressively pushing defence exports.

 

India's annual defence production hit a record high of almost Rs 1.27 trillion in FY24, up 16.7 per cent over the previous year's figure of about Rs 1.09 trillion. The record production figure also means the country's defence ecosystem has covered over 40 per cent of the Centre's ambitious annual defence production target of Rs 3 trillion by FY29. 

 

Apart from the 16 defence public sector undertakings, the country's defence-industrial base has also expanded to over 430 licenced companies and 16,000 micro, small and medium enterprises, along with an estimated three times increase in value of production since FY15. The private sector accounts for 21 per cent of this.