German arms industry expands presence in India amidst geopolitical shifts

German arms manufacturers Rheinmetall and Diehl Defence have signed agreements with India’s Reliance Defence for the production of precision-guided munitions, explosives, and propellants in India. This move is driven not only by a desire to diversify supply chains but also by Berlin’s efforts to encourage New Delhi to reduce its arms cooperation with Moscow.

Germany has recently increased military collaboration with India, including joint naval and air force maneuvers. However, German companies still lag significantly behind their Western rivals in the US and France, who are supplying or planning to supply fighter jets for large-scale arms purchases in India.

The recent military conflict between India and Pakistan has intensified competition in the growing Indian defense market, with India shifting its focus toward advanced high-tech weaponry, including combat aircraft.

Reliance Defence, the partner of Rheinmetall, continues to lead the list of Indian companies securing international defense contracts. The company has faced accusations of receiving preferential treatment from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Diehl and Reliance partner for 155mm precision-guided munitions

On June 10, Diehl Defence and India’s Reliance Defence announced a strategic cooperation agreement for the production of Vulcano 155mm precision-guided munitions in India. These munitions, equipped with GPS technology and laser-guided targeting, are expected to enhance the Indian army’s precision weapon capabilities.

Reports suggest that Reliance Defence anticipates sales of up to $1 billion. This agreement between Diehl and Reliance was announced just days after another strategic partnership was revealed on May 22 between Rheinmetall AG and Reliance Defence. Under this latter agreement, Reliance will take over the production of explosives and propellants for medium and large-caliber ammunition, supplying them to Rheinmetall.

This strategic partnership provides Rheinmetall with access to critical raw materials and ensures the security of its supply chains, with plans for further expansion of the collaboration. The timeframe and total value of the agreement have not yet been disclosed.

South Asia’s largest manufacturing facility to bolster Indian defense production

To support its collaborations with Diehl Defence and Rheinmetall, Reliance will establish its own manufacturing facility at Dhirubhai Ambani Defence City in India’s Maharashtra state. This facility, projected to be one of the largest in South Asia, will produce precision-guided munitions and boast an annual production capacity of 200,000 artillery shells, 10,000 tons of explosives, and 2,000 tons of propellants, which will be supplied to Rheinmetall.

These two contracts increase Reliance’s international defense partnerships to four, following existing collaborations with France’s Dassault Aviation and Thales. The agreements reflect the newly established Reliance Defence’s plans to become a leading company in India’s rapidly expanding defense sector.

Meanwhile, both Diehl and Rheinmetall aim to capitalize on the Indian government’s plan to achieve $5 billion in arms exports by 2029.

Germany’s move to reduce India’s reliance on Russian military imports

The agreements between Rheinmetall, Diehl, and Reliance Defence are part of intensified German efforts, ramped up in 2022, to reduce India’s high dependence on Russian arms imports. In February 2023, during a visit to India, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged New Delhi for greater support in Western efforts to isolate Russia, including an increase in arms purchases from Germany.

In June 2023, then-Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated during his visit to India, “It is not in Germany’s interest for India to remain dependent on Russia’s arms deliveries in the long term.” Pistorius’s discussions resulted in the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries for the joint construction of six non-nuclear submarines in India, to be carried out by Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and India’s Mazagon companies.

The “Focus on India” document, adopted by the German government in October 2024, explicitly linked the intention to “more strongly direct India toward German arms companies” with the goal of “reducing India’s arms policy orientation toward Russia.” Simultaneously, both countries have expanded practical military cooperation, including joint air and naval maneuvers in and around the Indian Ocean.

India-Pakistan tensions and the Sino-Western military technology rivalry

The recent military conflict between India and Pakistan, also viewed as a test case for the clash between Western and Chinese military technology, has further intensified competition for India’s large defense market. The armed conflict lasted four days, with both sides employing their most advanced weapons, including modern fighter jets. Reports indicate that the Pakistan Air Force, with the assistance of Chinese-made J-10C fighter jets, managed to shoot down one or more Indian Air Force Rafale fighter jets; both aircraft are classified as 4.5 generation.

Since then, the US has increased its efforts to expand arms sales to India, including the potential sale of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets. Shortly before the conflict, India signed a billion-dollar deal with France to acquire 26 Rafale fighter jets to replace its Russian MiG-29K fighter jets.

In response, Russia offered to sell India the Su-57, another fifth-generation fighter jet, and unlike the US, Russia proposed manufacturing the jets in India, including technology transfer. This would enable India to equip the aircraft with indigenous radar and weapon systems. Compared to France and the US, Germany has not recently secured significant arms contracts from India, the world’s largest military equipment importer, apart from the submarine agreement.

Controversial Indian giant: Reliance

Reliance Defence is a subsidiary of Reliance Infrastructure, which is part of the Reliance Group. The Reliance Group is one of India’s leading conglomerates, with total assets of approximately $47 billion and a broad base of about eight million shareholders. The group also includes other affiliated companies such as Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited, and Reliance Defence Technologies Private Limited.

However, the group has a controversial history. The Reliance Group is owned by Anil Ambani, who was once listed as the world’s sixth richest person in 2008. By 2019, however, he had accumulated $2 billion in debt to various investors. In 2020, Anil Ambani was forced to declare bankruptcy in a British court after being sued by three Chinese banks for unpaid loans totaling $700 million.

Another significant setback came from Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, which sued one of his companies over unpaid bills. Anil Ambani was saved from a jail sentence in this case only by the intervention of his elder brother, Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, who paid the debt.

Allegations of Modi’s support for reliance defence

The crisis-ridden Reliance Group reportedly received a lifeline from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the form of an excessively expensive arms deal with French company Dassault Aviation to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets worth a total of $8.8 billion. As part of the contract signed in April 2015, Reliance Group was designated as an offset partner: Dassault was to reinvest a very large portion of the revenues into Reliance to purchase more defense equipment and strengthen indigenous production capabilities.

This was done despite Reliance Group having no prior experience in the defense sector. In fact, Reliance Group established its subsidiary, Reliance Defence Limited, only thirteen days before the deal with Dassault was announced. A few days after the agreement was signed, Reliance Group formed Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited, which would become Dassault’s most important offset partner. The indebted Ambani Group, with no experience in the aviation sector, suddenly became the guarantor of a multi-billion dollar aviation business.