India’s Defense Exports Surge: US, France, Armenia Among Top Buyers

India has significantly increased its defense exports, shedding previous hesitations about supplying lethal arms to foreign countries. Armenia has emerged as a top buyer, acquiring sophisticated Indian-made weapon systems, including Akash air defense missiles, Pinaka multi-launch rocket systems, and 155mm artillery guns.

According to reports, India recorded military exports valued at Rs 21,083 crore ($2.6 billion) in the 2023-24 fiscal year, with the United States, France, and Armenia ranking as the top three export destinations.

Indian defense companies, both public and private, are now exporting a diverse array of arms, ammunition, and weapon systems to nearly 100 countries. Notable exports include BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, Dornier-228 aircraft, artillery guns, radars, Akash missiles, Pinaka rockets, and armored vehicles. Exports to the U.S. consist primarily of sub-systems and components, as defense giants like Boeing and Lockheed Martin procure fuselages, wings, and other parts from Indian suppliers as part of their global supply chains.

The Tata Boeing Aerospace facility in Hyderabad, for instance, produces fuselage and secondary structures for Apache attack helicopters. France’s imports focus on software and electronic equipment.

Armenia, a former Soviet Republic, has signed several defense deals with India over the past four years, acquiring systems such as missiles, artillery guns, rocket systems, weapon-locating radars, bullet-proof vests, and night-vision equipment. This partnership deepened during Armenia's conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia is now the first foreign country to purchase India’s Akash air defense missiles, which have an interception range of 25 km. Brazil has also shown interest in co-developing advanced versions of the Akash system, with talks underway for an inter-governmental agreement.

Following India’s $375-million contract in January 2022 to export BrahMos anti-ship coastal missile systems to the Philippines, other ASEAN and Gulf nations have also expressed interest in the precision-strike missiles, co-developed by India and Russia.

Despite this growing export market, India remains the world’s largest arms importer, accounting for 9.8% of global imports from 2019 to 2023. The government is, however, aggressively expanding the domestic defense-industrial base and restricting imports of certain systems under the ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) and ‘Make in India’ initiatives. In 2023-24, India’s defense production reached a record high of Rs 1.2 lakh crore, with an ambitious target of Rs 3 lakh crore in production and Rs 50,000 crore in exports by 2028-29.

India’s defense sector now includes 16 defense public sector undertakings (DPSUs), over 430 licensed companies, and 16,000 MSMEs, with production values tripling since 2014-15. The private sector accounts for 21% of this production, reflecting India’s commitment to building a robust domestic defense-industrial ecosystem.

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