Photo Credit: cffdefensys.com
Germany’s TKMS and India’s CFF Fluid Control signed a binding joint venture agreement on 6 November 2026 to establish TKMS CFF Defence Systems Private Limited. The venture will focus on underwater naval systems, including equipment used in anti-submarine warfare.
CFF Fluid Control will hold a 51% stake, while TKMS will hold 49%. CFF’s exchange disclosures identify TKMS ATLAS ELEKTRONIK GmbH as the German signatory. The venture will have its registered office in Mumbai and plans to carry out manufacturing and systems integration at a dedicated facility in Chakan, near Pune.
Manufacturing and long-term support in India
The venture will combine TKMS’s sonar and sensor technology with CFF Fluid Control’s experience in engineering, manufacturing and naval maintenance. Its scope includes producing equipment locally, integrating components into complete systems and providing maintenance and technical support throughout their service life.
Michael Ozegowski, Executive Vice President of TKMS ATLAS ELEKTRONIK, said the venture would establish a local base for underwater defence systems under India’s Make in India initiative. Sunil Menon, Managing Director of CFF Fluid Control, said the partners aimed to build long-term engineering and manufacturing capability in India.
A partnership dating to 2023
The companies signed a teaming agreement in 2023. The new agreement takes that collaboration a step further by setting out the ownership of a jointly held Indian company and identifying Chakan as its manufacturing and integration base. The announcement did not specify an investment amount, a production start date or an Indian Navy order.
India–Germany defence industrial cooperation
The joint venture comes in a year when India and Germany formally set out their intent to deepen defence industrial ties. During German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s visit to India on 12–13 January 2026, the two countries adopted a joint declaration of intent to strengthen bilateral defence industrial cooperation. The Chakan venture adds a company-level development to that wider relationship, with plans for both manufacturing and long-term equipment support in India.
TKMS is also working with Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) on Project 75(I), a separate Indian Navy procurement programme for six submarines. TKMS announced in September 2025 that it and MDL had begun formal contract negotiations with India’s procurement authority. The November agreement with CFF concerns the establishment of an Indian venture for underwater naval systems.
