Project UNICORN: India and Japan's Joint Defence Project

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At the 16th India-Japan Annual Summit in New Delhi (July 2026), India and Japan announced their first joint defence co-development project to manufacture the UNICORN (Unified Complex Radio Antenna) Mast for the Indian Navy.
This step follows a Memorandum of Implementation signed in Tokyo in 2024 for co-developing the mast system for future naval warships.
This agreement is historic because India becomes the second Asian country, after the Philippines, to receive Japanese defence technology.

The UNICORN system integrates multiple communication systems and scattered antennas into a single unified radar mast.
By consolidating exposed antennas, it lowers the warship's radar cross-section, which improves stealth capabilities and tactical evasion.
The system is also known as Nora-50 and is recognized as one of the finest weapon-grade antennas globally.

Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will manufacture the UNICORN mast with Japanese partners, where Japan provides design expertise and India handles production and integration.
The UNICORN Mast will gradually replace the Indian Navy's current Advanced Composite Communication System infrastructure, which relies on BEL's fourth-generation integrated data and voice communication system.
With modern stealth antenna technology, the mast delivers higher security, lower radar signature, and better communications for digitally contested naval warfare environments.

The project strengthens bilateral strategic trust, boosts India's maritime domain awareness, and supports a free, open, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.