Chandigarh: India and Israel are set to further deepen their military ties through greater collaboration in advanced technologies, joint development projects and weapons production under their Special Strategic Partnership.To further this effort, retired major general Amir Baram, director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Defence (IMoD), called on defence minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Monday and reaffirmed Israel’s commitment to deepening bilateral military cooperation. He later met defence secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh – his closest Indian counterpart – to discuss technology sharing, joint materiel development and closer industrial collaboration.Subsequently, the IMoD statement declared that Baram’s visit reflected its strategy to expand defence exports as a tool to advance foreign policy objectives and bolster Israel’s defense industry and economy. It added that the engagement formed part of a broader effort to deepen strategic partnerships in Asia and expand cooperation with key countries in the region. Baram’s presence in Delhi comes at a time when India is seeking to accelerate indigenous defence production under its Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, while simultaneously modernising its armed forces in response to evolving regional security challenges. It also follows the signing of a joint memorandum of understanding earlier this year, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fateful trip to Tel Aviv, which took place shortly before the outbreak of the US-Israel war with Iran.This agreement had identified a broad range of cooperation areas, including industrial collaboration, joint planning and training, scientific research, technological innovation, artificial intelligence, cyber security, and the co-development and co-production of advanced military technologies.Also read: India Knew Israeli Soldier Eitan Gilboa Was Here, A Complaint Was Filed. Why Did it Go Nowhere?Israel’s expertise in missiles, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), sensors, electronic warfare and battlefield networking technologies positions it as a key partner in advancing India’s military objectives.Senior industry officials in Delhi and Bengaluru said the defining feature of Israeli defence cooperation with India is what they described as “modular integration”. Rather than supplying complete heavy platforms, Israel typically provides specialised technologies that can be integrated across existing systems. Unlike many of the world’s major arms exporters, Israel’s defence industry is not built around the manufacture of tanks, combat aircraft, major warships and the like. Instead, it specialises in radars, seekers, sensors, electronic warfare (EW) suites, precision-guidance kits and missile technologies that enhance the operational effectiveness of a wide range of military platforms, significantly enhancing their overall operational effectiveness.This technology-centric model has proven particularly attractive to India, whose armed forces operate a uniquely diverse inventory comprising Russian, Western and indigenous platforms and equipment. Consequently, Israeli force multiplier systems have repeatedly enabled the military to upgrade existing capabilities without undertaking costly platform replacement programmes. Combined with the Indian military’s renowned capacity for jugaad, or local improvisation and adaptation, these technologies have often generated capabilities that, in some instances, exceed the sum of their individual parts.Precision-guided munitionsMissile cooperation remains one of the most visible examples of this partnership. Beginning with the acquisition of the Barak-1 naval air-defence missile in the 1990s, collaboration subsequently evolved into the joint development of the Barak-8 system by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Today, Barak-1/8 variants equip Indian Navy (IN) warships and have also been inducted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Army to provide layered protection against enemy aircraft, drones and missile threats.Complementing this layered Barak shield is the SPYDER quick-reaction surface-to-air missile system, inducted by the IAF to protect high-value assets from low-level aerial attacks. SPYDER uses the Derby missile and Python-class infrared interceptors, giving India a rapid point-defence capability in a mobile configuration. In the air-to-air domain, Derby missiles have also been integrated onto IAF fighters like Tejas light combat aircraft to augment beyond-visual-range (BVR) engagement envelopes.In recent years, Israel has additionally supplied India with a range of long-range precision strike capabilities. These include Rafael’s SPICE guidance kits, which convert conventional bombs into precision-guided weapons, as well as stand-off strike systems capable of engaging heavily defended targets from considerable distances. Several of these systems reportedly featured during Operation Sindoor, demonstrating the growing importance of precision-guided munitions in India’s evolving military doctrine.Perhaps nowhere is Israeli influence more visible than in India’s unmanned aerial ecosystem. Since the mid-1990s, Heron and Searcher unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have provided vital intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance coverage along both the Line of Control with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control with China. Over time, upgraded variants equipped with satellite communication links and enhanced payloads have significantly expanded the endurance, operational range and surveillance capabilities of these platforms, which are employed by all three services in a variety of roles. Israeli systems have also contributed to India’s transition from surveillance-oriented drone operations to precision-strike capabilities. One notable example is the Harop loitering munition, developed by IAI, which combines surveillance and strike functions in a single expendable platform. Often described as a “kamikaze drone”, the Harop can loiter over a target area for several hours before autonomously diving onto enemy radar emitters, air-defence systems or other high-value targets.And, unlike conventional UAVs that merely gather intelligence for separate strike platforms, the Harop collapses the sensor-to-shooter chain into a single weapon system, and its induction reflects India’s broader shift towards stand-off precision warfare and the suppression of enemy air-defence (SEAD) capabilities. Beyond missiles and drones: Cyber and surveillance technologiesIsraeli contributions extend far beyond missiles and drones.The IAF’s fleet of three Phalcon airborne early-warning and control aircraft, for instance, based on Russian Ilyushin Il-76 airframes fitted with advanced Israeli AESA (Active Electronically Scanned Array ) radar systems, provides critical airborne surveillance and battle-management capabilities. These platforms act as force multipliers, linking fighters, ground-based radars and air-defence assets into a unified operational network, enhancing real-time situational awareness, target tracking and mission coordination during sustained air operations that the IAF conducted during Op Sindoor. Equally important are the less visible technologies embedded throughout India’s military infrastructure.Varied Israeli radars, electro-optical sensors, targeting pods, thermal imagers, electronic warfare (EW) systems and border surveillance equipment support operations across a wide range of environments. Smart fencing systems, sensor networks and advanced monitoring technologies have also been installed along sensitive sections of India’s borders with both Pakistan and China. Even small arms reflect the depth of this collaboration. Israeli-designed Tavor assault rifles, Galil sniper rifles, Spike anti-tank guided missiles and Negev NG-7 light machine guns have all been inducted into the Indian Army over the past two decades. Production of the NG-7 LMG has increasingly shifted to India through PLR Systems, originally established as Punj Lloyd Raksha Systems in partnership with Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) and now controlled by the Adani Group, which manufactures the weapon system at its facility at Malanpur near Gwalior.And, beyond the battlefield and borderlands, Indo-Israeli cooperation has also extended into the space domain. India’s RISAT-2 reconnaissance satellite incorporated Israeli radar technology that provided all-weather, day-and-night imaging capability. Fast-tracked after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the programme significantly strengthened India’s ability to monitor borders, coastlines and strategic targets regardless of weather conditions.The partnership has also expanded into cyber and surveillance technologies. The most controversial of these involves Pegasus spyware, developed by NSO Group. Designed for counterterrorism and law enforcement, Pegasus can covertly infiltrate smartphones to extract communications and activate sensors. Allegations that it was used to monitor the devices of Indian Opposition politicians, journalists, lawyers, and civil rights activists, amongst others, underline the sensitive intelligence dimension of Indo-Israeli cooperation. This particular episode illustrates that this partnership is not just about military kit, but reaches deep into the very fabric of the Indian government’s information control and national surveillance.Furthermore, the Indo-Israeli defence partnership has increasingly moved beyond imports towards local manufacturing.A prominent example is the collaboration between Adani Defence & Aerospace and Israel’s Elbit Systems, which manufactures the Hermes 900 medium-altitude long-endurance UAV in Hyderabad. Known in Indian service as the Drishti-10 Starliner, it represents the first production of the platform outside Israel and reflects the growing emphasis on domestic defence production.Developed quietly, almost between the linesMeanwhile, the roots of all this military cooperation between India and Israel stretch back much further than is commonly appreciated. Long before formal diplomatic relations were established in 1992, Israel quietly provided military assistance following India’s 1962 war with China. Limited support also followed during subsequent conflicts with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, largely through ammunition and assorted ordnance supplies. These early exchanges, however, remained largely hidden from public view, constrained by political sensitivities on both sides.For decades thereafter, India balanced its growing security ties with Israel against domestic political considerations and its broader diplomatic engagement with the Arab world, upon which it depended heavily for its hydrocarbon requirements. Israel, for its part, similarly avoided drawing attention to the extent of its military cooperation with Delhi. Consequently, what would eventually become one of the world’s most extensive defence relationships developed quietly, almost between the lines, long before it emerged into the open. Over the following decades, these discreet contacts evolved into a comprehensive strategic partnership spanning virtually every dimension of modern warfare.Clandestine ties continued thereafter, with senior Indian security officials travelling to Israel via Cyprus, as no direct air links existed between the two countries. The arrangement was designed to leave as little trace as possible: Israeli visas were reportedly issued on separate sheets of paper rather than stamped into passports, allowing officials to remove the evidence of their travel if required. Such precautions reflected Delhi’s desire to deepen security cooperation with Israel while avoiding political sensitivities with Arab countries, upon which India remained heavily dependent for energy supplies.Following Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984, India is believed to have sought and secured Israeli assistance in upgrading its VIP protection procedures by training and equipping personnel from the newly raised Special Protection Group and National Security Guard. These commandos, too, reportedly travelled via Cyprus. Israeli specialists also helped devise Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s security architecture, elements of which continue, with modifications, to underpin protection arrangements for his successors, including Narendra Modi. The disintegration of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s marked a decisive turning point in Delhi’s military ties with Israel. As India’s principal strategic ally and foremost weapons supplier unravelled, crucial supplies of arms and spare parts were either disrupted or delayed indefinitely. Overnight, many suppliers found themselves located in newly independent republics whose relations with Moscow were uncertain or strained. Faced with mounting operational requirements and the eruption of the Kashmir insurgency in late 1989, India was compelled to seek alternative sources of military equipment and technology, creating the conditions for a dramatic expansion of defence cooperation with Israel.Yet, despite this exponentially expanding military partnership, it still remains strikingly opaque, conducted largely beyond public scrutiny. Reciprocal visits to Delhi and Tel Aviv by military, security and intelligence officials, DRDO technicians and scientists and armament company executives too remain strictly under wraps, as does all bilateral military commerce executed through both private and public sectors. Seen against this wider canvas, general Baram’s Delhi visit represents far more than a routine diplomatic engagement; it underscores the continuing evolution of a strategic partnership that has grown steadily over decades and which, by all indications, is poised to expand even further in the years ahead.