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Sixteen years after the Indian Army first sought the US-origin Javelin anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) in 2010, with technology transfer to manufacture it locally, it has finally secured only the right to assemble it.

On August 28, the US Embassy in New Delhi announced that the Army had signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) under Washington’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme to acquire the Javelin. US Ambassador Sergio Gor provided no details of the purchase, saying only that the agreement had opened the door to “co-production possibilities”.

However, local media reports, quoting unnamed defence officials, revealed that the Rs 292-crore purchase, of up to 100 Javelins, was an off-the-shelf acquisition, executed by the Army under the emergency procurement powers granted to the armed forces after Operation Sindoor in May 2025, without Ministry of Defence (MoD) clearance. Such purchases are subject to the government’s Rs 300-crore ceiling, applicable to operationally urgent materiel procurements.

Thereafter, on Monday (August 31), the focus shifted from buying the ATGMs to assembling them in India, with Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and the Javelin Joint Venture (JJV), comprising Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, announcing a memorandum of understanding to “co-produce” Javelin All Up Rounds (AURs), domestically.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

The TASL-Lockheed-Raytheon joint statement said the two sides would “explore the establishment” of a facility for the missile’s final assembly and integration. Still, much of its component production would remain in the US. Lockheed Martin’s Troy plant in Alabama will continue producing the Javelin’s “sub-assembly kits”, while Raytheon’s Tucson facility in Arizona will manufacture its “guidance electronics units”. Both systems would eventually be shipped to TASL for incorporation into the ATGM.

TASL’s own description reinforces that arrangement, with its chief executive, Sukaran Singh, declaring that the initiative would bring “critical assembly expertise and knowledge transfer” into India’s defence-industrial ecosystem. Local assembly of the Javelin, he stressed, would ensure ‘timely access to proven, combat-ready capability’ for India’s armed forces.

The Javelin is an advanced man-portable, medium-range, fire-and-forget ATGM. Its imaging-infrared seeker enables it to lock onto a target before launch, while its tandem warhead is designed to defeat explosive reactive armour. It can strike armoured vehicles from above, in top-attack mode, hitting them at their most vulnerable point, or use direct fire against fortifications and other........

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