By A Correspondent

Mumbai: Indian multinational conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T), on May 14, 2026, entered into a strategic collaboration with the French company Exail to deliver an Unmanned Mine Counter-Measure (MCM) Suite to the Indian Navy’s minesweeper programme.

In a statement, the Indian company said together with Exail, L&T would provide the Indian Navy with a state-of-the-art Unmanned MCM Suite for the Indian Navy’s Mine Counter-Measure Vessel (MCMV) project.

The two companies would incorporate “autonomous and remotely operated systems designed to detect, classify, identify, and neutralise naval mines in a safe, stand-off manner.”

L&T, as the prime contractor, would offer the Unmanned MCM Suite to all shipyards participating in the Indian Navy’s upcoming programme for 12 Mine Counter Measure Vessels. Exail will serve as the technology partner.

“The partnership will enable the delivery of Exail’s globally proven MCM technologies, already in operation with several navies worldwide and validated through extensive real-world deployments,” the statement said.

The collaboration represented “a major step towards strengthening India’s mine countermeasure capabilities, enhancing maritime security, and reinforcing Indo-French defence cooperation, while building a robust and self-reliant naval defence manufacturing ecosystem in India.”

Aligned with the Government of India’s ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives, the programme would incorporate strong local industrial collaboration and capability development.

“This partnership brings together L&T, with its extensive defence products legacy and maritime capabilities, and Exail, a global leader in unmanned maritime systems and mine warfare technologies,” L&T Precision Engineering and Systems senior vice president and head Arun Ramchandani said.

“Exail contributes decades of proven operational expertise, while L&T leverages its strengths in defence engineering, indigenous manufacturing, complex system integration, and lifecycle support,” Ramchandani added.

“We are proud to partner with L&T on this strategic programme for the Indian Navy,” Exail’s maritime systems business line chief executive officer Jerome Bendell said.

“Beyond delivering a proven unmanned mine countermeasures capability, this collaboration also reflects a shared ambition to support the long-term development of sovereign unmanned maritime systems in India,” Bendell said.

“By combining Exail’s operational expertise with L&T’s strong industrial and integration capabilities, we see significant potential to contribute to the local development and production of next-generation naval drones and autonomous mission systems,” he added.

The L&T-Exail tie-up comes at a time India awaits a decision on a tender for procuring 12 MCMVs for the Indian Navy, years after the last remaining vessel for such specialised operations was decommissioned in 2019.

However, an internal naval assessment pegs the minesweeper requirement at 24 vessels to safeguard the nearly 12,000-km-long Indian coastline dotted by over 200 major and minor ports.

Sea mines pose a huge threat not only to warships, but also to the entry points to ports and in shipping lanes, threatening civilian maritime traffic.

The Iran-controlled Strait of Hormuz in West Asia is the latest example of sea mine threats after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28.

India’s previous efforts, since 2005, to build 12 MCMVs in India have failed due to multiple reasons, particularly due to the huge costs demanded by foreign shipbuilders for technology transfer to an Indian shipyard.

The project was revived in 2025 with a Request for Information, but the tender is awaited. The initial budget approval for the 12 MCMV project is pegged at INR 45,000 crore.

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