NEW DELHI: India and Japan will crank up their defence-industrial collaboration for cutting-edge technologies, which includes the “Unicorn” stealth antenna system for warships, as well as enhance military interoperability through combat exercises and cooperation in space and cyber domains, with an eye firmly on China’s aggressive moves in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Japanese Unicorn or ‘unified complex radio antenna’ system, which houses multiple antennae of a warship into a single horn-shaped structure to reduce radar signature and detection by enemy forces, was specially mentioned by Japanese defence minister Minoru Kihara after the bilateral 2-plus-2 ministerial dialogue here on Tuesday.
After the “successful completion of the cooperation in the areas of unmanned ground vehicles/robotics”, the joint statement said the two sides “appreciated the progress made for the transfer of Unicorn and related technologies and early signing of related arrangements”.
Bilateral talks on the Unicorn system, which can also detect the movement of missiles and drones with its ability to sense radio waves from a wide area, has been underway for a couple of years. “India is keen on inducting at least a limited number of such systems and technology transfer to make its warships more stealthy,” an official said.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who also held a separate meeting with Kihara, stressed that India wanted to partner with Japan in order to boost domestic defence-industrial capabilities and achieve the goal of making the country a global manufacturing hub.
In the backdrop of China’s expansionist muscle-flexing and “grey zone” tactics in the Indo-Pacific, be it in the South and East China Seas or the land borders with India, Singh said the partnership with Japan was “the key to peace and stability” in the region.
“As two significant stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific, India and Japan, in many ways, are the important sentinels for the region. India and Japan have a shared vision of the Indo-Pacific. There is growing convergence and common outlook on issues of peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
The two countries also welcomed the growing diversity and frequency of their defence exercises and exchanges, and resolved to enhance the scope and complexity of these engagements.
Japan is taking part in India’s ongoing multi-nation “Tarang Shakti” air combat exercise. This follows after IAF deployed four Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two C-17 Globemaster-III strategic lift aircraft and one IL-78 mid-air refueler for the first-ever air combat exercise with Japan called “Veer Guardian” at the Hyakuri air base last year.
Japan will also take part in the top-tier Malabar naval exercise to be hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal in October. The Malabar, which began as a bilateral exercise between India and the US in 1992, now includes Japan and Australia as regular participants.
The Japanese Unicorn or ‘unified complex radio antenna’ system, which houses multiple antennae of a warship into a single horn-shaped structure to reduce radar signature and detection by enemy forces, was specially mentioned by Japanese defence minister Minoru Kihara after the bilateral 2-plus-2 ministerial dialogue here on Tuesday.
After the “successful completion of the cooperation in the areas of unmanned ground vehicles/robotics”, the joint statement said the two sides “appreciated the progress made for the transfer of Unicorn and related technologies and early signing of related arrangements”.
Bilateral talks on the Unicorn system, which can also detect the movement of missiles and drones with its ability to sense radio waves from a wide area, has been underway for a couple of years. “India is keen on inducting at least a limited number of such systems and technology transfer to make its warships more stealthy,” an official said.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh, who also held a separate meeting with Kihara, stressed that India wanted to partner with Japan in order to boost domestic defence-industrial capabilities and achieve the goal of making the country a global manufacturing hub.
In the backdrop of China’s expansionist muscle-flexing and “grey zone” tactics in the Indo-Pacific, be it in the South and East China Seas or the land borders with India, Singh said the partnership with Japan was “the key to peace and stability” in the region.
“As two significant stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific, India and Japan, in many ways, are the important sentinels for the region. India and Japan have a shared vision of the Indo-Pacific. There is growing convergence and common outlook on issues of peace, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.
The two countries also welcomed the growing diversity and frequency of their defence exercises and exchanges, and resolved to enhance the scope and complexity of these engagements.
Japan is taking part in India’s ongoing multi-nation “Tarang Shakti” air combat exercise. This follows after IAF deployed four Sukhoi-30MKI fighters, two C-17 Globemaster-III strategic lift aircraft and one IL-78 mid-air refueler for the first-ever air combat exercise with Japan called “Veer Guardian” at the Hyakuri air base last year.
Japan will also take part in the top-tier Malabar naval exercise to be hosted by India in the Bay of Bengal in October. The Malabar, which began as a bilateral exercise between India and the US in 1992, now includes Japan and Australia as regular participants.
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