India seeks out domestic, Russian defence suppliers to boost marine forces

India's Ministry of Defence has signed new contracts to procure additional helicopters and missiles for the country’s armed forces from both domestic and Russian suppliers.

The agreements were confirmed this week and include six HAL Advanced Light Helicopter Mk III (Dhruv) in the maritime configuration for the Indian Coast Guard, along with VL-Shtil surface-to-air missile system units for the Indian Navy, according to military news outlets.

The helicopter contract—valued at about $315 million—was signed with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It covers the six aircraft, mission-role equipment, an engineering support package, and performance-based logistics support. Approval for the purchase of these twin-engine helicopters, commonly known as Dhruv, had been granted by the defence ministry in December 2024.

A fatal crash in September 2024 led the Indian Coast Guard to ground its ALH fleet. Another fatal accident involving an ALH in January 2025 resulted in the grounding of the entire helicopter fleet across all services.

By mid-2026, the Indian Army and Indian Air Force variants had resumed operations after investigators determined that the issue was linked to operational conditions specific to the naval and coast guard versions. Reports indicated that improvements were recommended to the manufacturing process of the non-rotating swashplate bearing used in the naval Dhruv variants to enhance fatigue life.

The latest order comes shortly after a naval ALH was reported to have completed its first operational flight since the January 2025 crash.

HAL is also developing an indigenous maritime helicopter known as the Utility Helicopter – Maritime (UH‑M) for the Indian Navy, based on the ALH Mk-III platform. At least 60 helicopters are expected to be procured, with initial flight tests anticipated in the near future. The UH-M will feature an Active Electronically Scanned Array radar, folding tail boom and main rotors, and will be armed with NASM‑SR anti‑ship missile and ALWT lightweight torpedo systems.

Separately, a contract worth about $237 million was signed with Rosoboronexport of the Russian Federation for the procurement of Surface-to-Air Vertical Launch Shtil missiles and associated missile-holding frames.

These systems are intended for the four follow-on Talwar-class frigate vessels of the Indian Navy, which use the vertical-launch Shtil system rather than the arm launcher fitted on the original six ships. Two of the four follow-on frigates were built in Russia and are already in service, while the remaining two are under construction at Goa Shipyard Limited in India.

By Nazrin Sadigova