The Israel-India Defense Corridor

The Israel-India defense corridor is the largest single bilateral relationship in the Israeli defense export economy — approximately $20.5 billion cumulative across 2020-2024 per SIPRI Arms Transfers Database data. The architecture spans Rafael, IAI, and Elbit programs simultaneously, has consolidated under India's Atmanirbhar Bharat self-reliance framework, and is structurally more durable than the more politically volatile European trajectory.

The scale

India is the largest single arms importer globally — and Israel is among India's top three foreign defense suppliers, behind only Russia and France in cumulative recent transfer value. The bilateral relationship runs across air defense, missiles, unmanned aerial systems, radar, electronic warfare, and adjacent capability categories. The transactional architecture is heavily weighted toward government-to-government programs, with multiple multi-billion-dollar program lifecycle commitments.

Within the 23% of 2024 Israeli defense contracts going to Asia and the Pacific (per the SIBAT 2024 data), India accounts for the largest single share — the precise breakdown is not publicly disclosed but is the largest country position globally based on SIPRI cumulative transfer data and consistent industry reporting.

Atmanirbhar Bharat and the co-production shift

India's Atmanirbhar Bharat ("self-reliant India") framework, announced in 2020 and operationalized since, has reshaped what foreign defense suppliers must deliver to access the Indian market. The framework prioritizes domestic Indian production over straight import, requires technology transfer for major programs, and incentivizes joint ventures with Indian defense industry partners.

Israeli industry has been one of the most-successful foreign defense industrial bases at adapting to the framework. The Adani-Elbit Hermes 900 UAV production facility in Hyderabad is the most-cited example. The facility manufactures Hermes 900 medium-altitude long-endurance UAVs for the Indian military and for export back to Israel and to other international customers. The architecture — Israeli design, Indian production capacity, dual-market export — became a template for subsequent Israeli-Indian defense industrial cooperation across multiple capability categories.

The IAI position

IAI's Indian engagement is the largest by program count. The Phalcon airborne early-warning radar program with the Indian Air Force, the LRSAM (Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile, joint with India's DRDO) program, the Barak-8 system in its multiple variants, and adjacent satellite and reconnaissance programs together anchor an IAI-India relationship that has run continuously through multiple government administrations and political cycles.

The IAI structure includes substantial joint venture and licensing arrangements with Bharat Electronics Limited, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and adjacent Indian defense industrial counterparties.

The Rafael position

Rafael's Indian engagement concentrates in the Spike anti-tank guided missile family (a multi-billion-dollar lifecycle commitment), air defense system co-production (David's Sling-derived capabilities licensed for Indian production in certain configurations), and electronic warfare systems for the Indian Navy and Air Force. The Rafael-India relationship has expanded under Atmanirbhar Bharat through new joint venture arrangements with Indian defense industrial partners.

The Elbit position

Elbit's Indian engagement is anchored by the Adani-Elbit joint venture and its Hermes 900 production line. Adjacent Elbit programs span land platforms, electronic warfare, command-and-control systems, and adjacent capabilities sold through both direct export and joint-venture-produced channels.

The IMEC dimension

The 2023 India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) framework — announced at the G20 New Delhi summit — adds a logistics-and-trade dimension to the bilateral relationship. Adani Ports' January 2023 acquisition of Haifa Port through the consortium with Israel's Gadot Group positioned Adani as a principal commercial counterparty in the broader Israel-India-Europe trade corridor. The IMEC framework remains under-developed in implementation but represents a structural commitment by both governments to deepen bilateral and multilateral economic architecture.

What changed in 2023-2026

Three shifts. First, the post-October 7 environment has driven sharper Indian government interest in Israeli operational capability — the combat-test data from 2023-2025 reshaped Indian assessment of multiple Israeli systems. Second, the Atmanirbhar Bharat framework has continued to push the bilateral architecture toward deeper joint production rather than straight import. Third, the US export-control architecture's coordination with Israel on Indian-market programs has occasionally lengthened approval timelines on US-integrated Israeli systems — Israeli industry has responded with deeper ITAR-free configurations for Indian market access.

Why the corridor is durable

Unlike the European market, the Israel-India relationship is not subject to the same episodic political volatility. India's defense procurement is driven by capability requirements against the Pakistan and China force-structure environment, by domestic industrial-development priorities, and by long-cycle program commitments. The political dynamics that have produced European procurement reversals are not present in the Indian architecture.

Sources

SIPRI Arms Transfers Database; SIBAT 2024 Defense Exports Report; The Jerusalem Post, "Israel's battle-tested tech sees demand in Asia," February 2026; Times of India defense reporting; Defense News; Globes; published research on India-Israel defense relations. Data current as of Q2 2026.

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