India & France Sign Pact to Produce HAMMER Precision Weapon

• BEL and SED signed a JVCA to produce HAMMER Smart Precision Guided Air-to-Ground Weapons in India
• The agreement builds on a February 2025 MoU, formalizing plans to establish a potential Joint Venture Company (JVC)
• HAMMER is a combat-proven, modular, precision-guided weapon compatible with platforms like Rafale and Tejas

India and France sign India France defence pact for HAMMER weapon production, advancing precision guided munition and air-to-ground weapon India projects through defence manufacturing collaboration, strengthening Indo-French defence ties.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) from India has collaborated with Safran Electronics and Defence (SED) from France to establish a joint venture agreement (JVCA) on the production of Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range (HAMMER) Air-to-Ground Smart Precision Guided Weapons in India.

This agreement was signed by BEL CMD Manoj Jain and SED Executive VP Alexandre Ziegler, and witnessed by Defence Secretary Sanjeev Kumar and Safran CEO Olivier Andries, recently in New Delhi.

According to the Ministry of Defence, the JVCA follows the previously stated intention to create a Joint Venture Company (JVC) in India between BEL and SED in the MoU dated 11 February 2025 (in conjunction with Aero India). This agreement will contribute greatly towards the success of Make-In-India initiatives in Defence Manufacturing.

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The MoD stated, “The JVC shall be formed as a private limited company with 50:50 shareholding. It will localise the manufacturing, supply and maintenance of HAMMER to meet the operational needs of the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy”.

It added, “The indigenisation level will progressively increase upto 60 percent with key sub-assemblies, electronics and mechanical parts being manufactured locally. The transfer of production will happen in a phased manner with BEL leading final assembly, testing and quality assurance”.

With HAMMER being a combat-proven air-to-ground weapon with precision targeting capability as a result of its modular design, it can be used on many types of platforms such as the Rafale Fighter or Light Combat Aircraft Tejas.

 The partnership will enable BEL to enhance India's Defence Industrial Base and receive access to SED's wealth of knowledge in smart precision-guided weapon manufacturing, thus helping to advance indigenous defence capabilities internationally.