India has taken one of its most consequential steps toward defence self-reliance with the establishment of a new joint venture between Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and France’s Safran Electronics & Defense to manufacture the AASM HAMMER precision-guided air-to-ground bomb in India. Formalized in New Delhi on November 24, 2025, the Joint Venture Cooperation Agreement (JVCA) marks a historic leap in India’s pursuit of strategic autonomy, aligning directly with the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
The development elevates Indo-French defence cooperation to unprecedented levels and positions India to conduct full-spectrum domestic manufacturing of the HAMMER, the primary precision-strike weapon for the Indian Air Force’s Rafale fighters. The system will also be integrated into all variants of the indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), ensuring long-term ammunition supply security and reducing strategic vulnerability during crises.
The creation of the BEL-Safran joint venture follows the MoU signed during Aero India 2025 and represents one of the most advanced munitions-manufacturing partnerships ever launched in India. The new 50:50 private limited entity will oversee assembly, supply, integration, life-cycle management, and eventually export of the weapon system.
Indigenization will be phased in increments, beginning with kit assembly and advancing toward roughly 60% local content. BEL will lead environmental testing, quality assurance, and certification processes leveraging its decades-long experience in avionics and battlefield electronics.
Officials emphasize that the localization push is not merely industrial—it is strategic. India’s growing need for stand-off strike weapons has intensified amid ongoing high-altitude tensions with China, uncertainty along the Pakistan border, and wider strategic competition across the Indo-Pacific. Ensuring uninterrupted access to advanced munitions has become a critical national security imperative.
The AASM HAMMER (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire – Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is one of Europe’s most advanced precision-guided bombs. Developed by France’s Délégation Générale pour l’Armement and Safran (then SAGEM), the system transforms standard unguided bombs into long-range, all-weather, fire-and-forget weapons with exceptionally high accuracy.
The modular guidance kit, paired with a rocket-propelled tail section, gives the HAMMER stand-off ranges exceeding 70 kilometres from high-altitude release. This allows Indian fighter jets to engage well-defended targets without entering enemy air defence envelopes—an operational advantage particularly crucial in mountainous Himalayan terrain.
The system supports three major guidance modes—GPS/INS, infrared imaging, and laser homing—enabling it to destroy stationary, relocatable, and mobile targets with precision as tight as one metre CEP in its IR-configured variant. It is compatible with multiple warhead types, including penetrating and blast-fragmentation payloads, expanding mission versatility from bunker-busting to close air support.
Combat-proven across Afghanistan, Libya, Mali, and the Russia-Ukraine war, the HAMMER has emerged as a global favourite due to its modularity, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. India also employed the weapon during the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict, solidifying its role in the country’s precision-strike doctrine.
India’s engagement with the HAMMER intensified sharply during the 2020 Ladakh crisis, when escalating tensions with China prompted the IAF to procure the bombs under fast-track emergency acquisition routes. The Rafale fleet, then newly inducted, required a precision stand-off weapon optimally suited for high-altitude warfare, and the HAMMER was rapidly integrated to fill that gap.
The new BEL-Safran venture eliminates India’s dependence on emergency imports during conflicts and ensures that the nation’s frontline fighters—Rafale, Rafale-M, and Tejas—retain assured access to a high-precision strike inventory even during global supply-chain disruptions.
The Indo-French defence partnership has steadily strengthened over the past two decades, from the Mirage 2000 upgrade program to the Rafale acquisition and collaborative engine development initiatives. The HAMMER manufacturing deal goes further, positioning India not just as a major customer but as a production partner capable of supplying the munition to global markets.
Analysts note that France’s willingness to transfer sophisticated munitions manufacturing technology reflects mutual trust and a shared vision of a multipolar Indo-Pacific security architecture. The partnership also provides India an alternative to supply chains influenced by U.S. export controls or Chinese manufacturing dominance.
For the Indian Air Force, the deal significantly upgrades its operational flexibility. Rafale integration is already seamless given the jet’s native compatibility with HAMMER, while Tejas integration—currently underway—will transform the indigenous fighter from a primarily air-defence platform into a true multirole aircraft with deep-strike capability.
Once fully operational, domestically built HAMMER units will allow Indian pilots to conduct precision strikes across contested borders with heightened survivability, reduced reliance on foreign vendors, and faster replenishment cycles during wartime.
The BEL-Safran joint venture signals India’s determination not only to operate cutting-edge weapon systems but to manufacture and evolve them on Indian soil. Defence experts say the ability to domestically produce advanced stand-off munitions positions India as a more credible regional power and enhances its role in broader Indo-Pacific security frameworks.
By strengthening deterrence, ensuring ammunition sovereignty, creating advanced manufacturing jobs, and building export potential, the domestic HAMMER production program marks a defining milestone in India’s modern military and industrial transformation.
