India’s defence exports hit record $4.1 bn in FY26, surge 63% over previous year
By Jayanta Roy Chowdhury
New Delhi, India has emerged as among the 25 largest exporters of arms in thew world by selling some USD 4.11 billion or Rs 38,424 crore worth of defence equipment in 2025-26, with much of it going to Armenia which imported about USD 2 billion worth of Akash-1S Surface-to-Air Missile systems, Pinaka Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers and Swathi weapon-locating radars and ATAGS howitzers.
The hike in Indian armament sales over the previous 2024-25 is about 62 per cent, a government statement said. Besides Armenia, India is selling armament components to the USA, France, Russia and Israel, and complete defence systems to the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Maldives, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Mauritius, Seychelles, Nigeria, Botswana, Suriname and Kenya.
“With the recent spate of hostilities between US, Israel and Iran and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, most countries will be increasing their defence imports as a reflective measure and since India’s missiles and air defence systems have battlefield provenance and are cost-effective, demand for them is likely to go up,” defence expert Commodore Ranjit Rai told UNI.
The two top favourites from India in the arms market are the BrahMos, which is one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles, while Pinaka, often dubbed ‘baby BrahMos’, is seen as a cost-effective, high-precision artillery rocket system at competitive prices.
“We have been steadily increasing our exports of Pinaka and Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles. Philippines bought some USD 375 million worth of Brahmos in 2024, then last year Indonesia became a customer for our cruise missile and now Vietnam, which has bought a few naval crafts, is finalising a deal for USD 400 million of Brahmos missiles,” said Commodore Rai.
India’s armament support for Armenia, which has fought two wars in 2016 and 2020 with Azerbaijan, is because of a mix of historical ties and modern geopolitical strategy where India and Russia have been trying to counterbalance the “Three Brother Alliance” between Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
“Following Russia’s focus on the war in Ukraine, Armenia turned to India for reliable, high-tech weaponry that is easily compatible with its existing Russian-origin systems,” defence ministry officials said on condition of anonymity.
Armenia is also a critical node in India’s ambition to reach European markets without passing through Pakistan or China-controlled routes and that former Soviet province is a key partner in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project, which could connect India to Europe via Iran.
India’s arms exporter tag is new, as New Delhi was better known as the world’s second largest arms importer, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s 2026 fact sheet, “India was the world’s second largest recipient of major arms in 2021–25 with an 8.2 per cent share of total global arms imports.”
In a statement on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh emphasised the strategic transition underway, noting that India, historically reliant on imports, is now “moving fast” toward becoming an exporter of defence equipment.
India currently exports defence products to more than 80 countries, spanning a wide spectrum that includes artillery systems, drones, electronics, and naval platforms. “The expansion reflects a broader policy push toward indigenisation, with the government promoting domestic manufacturing across domains ranging from small arms to fighter aircraft and submarines, often in collaboration with foreign partners,” government officials added.
While state-run ordinance factories accounted for nearly 55 per cent of defence exports out of India in 2025-26, private manufacturers such as L&T, Tata Advanced Systems, Mahindra Defence and Bharat Forge, which manufacture components for Western arms manufacturers or for systems exported from India, accounted for nearly 45 per cent of the exports.
“This duality underscores both the scale of India’s defence requirements and the transitional nature of its drive toward self-reliance and export competitiveness,” said Commodore Rai.
(UNI)
