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India signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance on 28 August 2026 to buy the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missile system for the Indian Army through the United States' Foreign Military Sales route.
The signature formally makes India a Javelin customer and opens discussions on co-production and wider defence-industrial cooperation.
It follows a State Department clearance announced by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on 19 November 2025, which covered Javelin missiles and launch units at an estimated $45.7 million.
That clearance was part of a combined package of about $92.8 million that also included 216 M982A1 Excalibur precision-guided 155 mm artillery projectiles estimated at $47.1 million.
The Javelin is built by the Javelin Joint Venture of RTX and Lockheed Martin; Bharat Dynamics Limited signed an agreement with the venture in February 2025 on possible co-production.
Foreign Military Sales is a government-to-government channel. The buyer signs a Letter of Offer and Acceptance with the United States government, which then contracts with the manufacturer on the buyer's behalf and applies its own procurement, pricing and quality processes. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency administers the programme, and major cases are notified to the United States Congress before they can proceed. The alternative route, Direct Commercial Sales, has the buyer negotiate straight with the company under an export licence. FMS costs more in administrative charges but gives the buyer the US government's contracting leverage and standardised support, which is why big-ticket platforms and munitions usually travel this way. For India the significance is less the price tag than the direction of travel: an LOA turns a cleared possibility into an actual contract, and creates the industrial relationship on which a co-production discussion can be built.
Simple Analogy: FMS is buying through the parent company rather than haggling with the local shop: slower and with a service fee, but the parent company stands behind the order.
Bharat Dynamics Limited signs an agreement with the Javelin Joint Venture on possible co-production arrangements.
India and the United States sign a 10-year Defence Framework in Kuala Lumpur, setting the frame for deeper defence cooperation.
DSCA announces State Department approval of possible sales to India of Javelin missiles ($45.7 million) and Excalibur projectiles ($47.1 million).
India signs the Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the Javelin system, becoming a Javelin customer and opening co-production talks.
Signed on 31 October 2025 in Kuala Lumpur by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; the Javelin LOA is an early deliverable under that framework.
India's own third-generation ATGM effort runs through DRDO's Nag family and Bharat Dynamics Limited, which is also the Indian partner named in the Javelin co-production discussion.
The same November 2025 clearance covered 216 M982A1 Excalibur 155 mm guided artillery shells, pairing precision artillery with precision anti-armour capability.
The operator can leave cover immediately after launch — a survivability advantage over command-guided missiles, which require the gunner to keep tracking the target until impact.
GS Paper II > India and its bilateral relations: India-US defence cooperation; GS Paper III > Defence and internal security
Defence current affairs > Weapon systems and procurement
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The contractual document under Foreign Military Sales by which the buyer accepts the United States government's offer of defence articles and services.
Guidance in which the missile tracks the target on its own after launch, letting the operator move away immediately.
A two-stage warhead in which a precursor charge defeats explosive reactive armour so that the main charge can penetrate the hull.
A flight path that climbs and then dives onto a tank's thinner upper surfaces instead of striking its frontal armour.