L&T Joins Hands with France’s Exail to Power Indian Navy’s Next-Gen Mine Warfare Fleet

Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro has announced a strategic collaboration with France-based Exail to deliver an advanced Unmanned Mine Countermeasure (MCM) Suite for the Indian Navy under its upcoming Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMVs) programme.

Under the partnership, L&T will act as the prime contractor and offer the unmanned MCM suite to shipyards participating in the Indian Navy’s programme to build 12 Mine Counter Measure Vessels. Exail will serve as the technology partner, contributing its globally proven mine warfare and unmanned maritime technologies already deployed by several navies worldwide.

The unmanned MCM suite will incorporate autonomous and remotely operated systems capable of detecting, classifying, identifying and neutralising naval mines in a safe stand-off manner. The collaboration is expected to significantly enhance India’s maritime security and strengthen its mine countermeasure capabilities.

The partnership also reinforces Indo-French defence cooperation and aligns with the Government of India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India initiatives. The programme will focus on local industrial collaboration, indigenous manufacturing and development of next-generation unmanned maritime systems in India.

L&T highlighted that the collaboration combines its strengths in defence engineering, complex system integration and lifecycle support with Exail’s decades of operational expertise in unmanned maritime systems and mine warfare technologies.