Eye on aggressive China, US 'welcomes' progress on $3.9bn predator drones deal

NEW DELHI: The US has welcomed India’s impending $3.9 billion procurement of 31 armed MQ-9B `hunter-killer’ Predator drones, as part of their overall defence partnership that will see the two countries further ramp up military interoperability, intelligence-sharing, space and cyber cooperation as well as defence-industrial and innovation collaboration, with an eye firmly on China’s aggressive behaviour in the Indo-Pacific.
The govt-to-govt deal for the 31 high-altitude long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), with 15 Sea Guardian drones earmarked for Navy and 8 Sky Guardians each for Army and IAF, is set to be inked in mid-Oct after the two sides wrapped up the techno-commercial negotiations, as was earlier reported by TOI.
“President Joe Biden welcomed the progress towards India concluding procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9Bs and their associated equipment, which will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across all domains”, a joint fact-sheet issued after the Modi-Biden talks said.
The drone deal will take the collective worth of lucrative Indian defence contracts bagged by the US to well over $25 billion just since 2007. Instead of such direct acquisitions, India is now pushing for co-development and co-production of advanced weapon systems under the ambitious defence-industrial cooperation roadmap finalized in June last year.
While no such joint project has been sealed till now, Modi and Biden “recognised the remarkable progress” achieved under the roadmap, including “ongoing collaboration to advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems”.
India and the US, for instance, are conducting techno-commercial negotiations to jointly produce GE-F414 jet engines for the Tejas Mark-2 fighters here, with 80% transfer of technology for around $1 billion.
The fact-sheet also mentioned that the US demonstrated its Stryker armoured infantry combat vehicle, with the Javelin anti-tank guided missiles, on the margins of the joint `Yudh Abhyas’ exercise that concluded in Rajasthan on Saturday.
TOI had earlier reported that the discussions were in an advanced stage for the joint manufacture of the eight-wheeled Strykers, with the Indian Army projecting a requirement for around 530 such vehicles, though there is some criticism about indigenous options being ignored in the process.
The two leaders also welcomed efforts to expand other defence-industrial partnerships, including for the co-development and co-production of unmanned surface vehicle systems to strengthen undersea and maritime domain awareness, as well as enhance India's MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) capabilities for the repair of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Modi and Biden also lauded ongoing efforts to deepen the bilateral military partnership and interoperability to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, noting that India hosted the largest and most complex bilateral tri-Service exercise “Tiger Triumph” till date in March.
“The leaders commended work to advance cooperation in advanced domains, including space and cyber, and looked forward towards the Nov 2024 bilateral cyber engagement to enhance the cyber cooperation framework. Areas of new cooperation will include threat information sharing, cybersecurity training, and collaboration on vulnerability mitigation in energy and telecommunications networks,” it said.
Under a MoU on the deployment of military liaison officers, India will now post a Colonel-rank officer to the US Special Operations Command at Florida, while another officer will go to the Indo-Pacific Command at Hawaii.