India-Japan Sign Agreement for UNICORN Masts

Syllabus: GS2/ International Relations,

Context

• India and Japan signed a Memorandum of Implementation (MoI) for the “co-development” of UNICORN (Unified Complex Radio Antenna) mast for the Indian Navy.

About

• Japan-India has signed an agreement on defense equipment and technology transfer in 2015.
• When implemented, this would be the first case of co-development / co-production of Defence Equipment between India and Japan.

What is the UNICORN mast?

• The UNICORN mast is a conical structure that houses antennas atop warships which will help improve the stealth characteristics of Naval platforms.
  • The system has numerous antennas for tactical data links. 
• TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation System) and communications are integrated within the mast design, reducing signature and ship-building time and saving below-deck space. 
• The Indian Navy is pursuing the induction of these advanced systems which will be co-developed by Bharat Electronics Limited in India with Japanese collaboration.

Benefits of UNICORN mast

• Unicorn’s pathbreaking design brings improvements by way of
  • Reduction of the antennas’ mutual interference, 
  • Reducing the ship’s overall Radar Cross Section (RCS), 
  • Enhancing maintainability and lightning resistance.
• At present, the Indian Navy uses the BEL-supplied Advanced Composite Communication System (ACCS), a fourth-generation voice and data integrated system for the ship’s external communication.

Concluding remarks

• India-Japan defense cooperation reflects a robust partnership based on mutual interests and strategic needs.
• The agreement with Japan will pave the way for future collaboration between the two countries on new and critical technologies, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewables, electric mobility, and more.

Source: TH