NEW DELHI: From situational awareness high up in space to deep undersea domain awareness, with cybersecurity, expert system, counter-drone technology, stepped-up military engagements, workouts and logistics in between, India and the United States have chalked up an enthusiastic agenda to take forward their already extensive defence relationship.
With defence minister Rajnath Singh stressing the requirement for co-development and co-production of state-of-the-art military systems during the two-plus-two dialogue, India and the US have actually chosen to “renew” the Defence Innovation and Trade Effort (DTTI) that was launched in 2012 but has actually largely stopped working to perform till now.
India wants the DTTI to change the “buyer-seller” relationship, with the US having actually already bagged profitable Indian defence deals worth over $21 billion simply since 2007, into joint manufacture of innovative weapon systems.
Towards this end, 2 DTTI projects specifically identified throughout the discussion were counter-unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and an ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, targeting and reconnaissance) platform.
These will add to the pact inked in 2015 to collectively establish air-launched unmanned aerial cars (ALUAVs) at a preliminary cost of $22 million, which might in the future result in make of AI-enabled drone swarms capable of being launched from airplane to overwhelm a foe’s air defence systems.
Even as the MoU on “Space Situational Awareness” was concluded throughout the dialogue, the 2 nations also chose to perform their inaugural Defence Area Dialogue in addition to AI Dialogue this year to contribute to the existing Defence Cyber Dialogue.
“The ministers acknowledged the value of deepening cooperation in science and technology in the India-US Joint Technical Group, and in evolving new defence domains, including area, AI and cyber,” the joint declaration said.
In the conventional domain, the 2 countries will even more increase the “scope and complexity” of their military combat exercises in addition to “deepen cooperation” in between their elite Special Forces.
“We are also happy that India has actually joined the multilateral Combined Maritime Force (CMF) based in Bahrain as an associate partner. This will reinforce cooperation in local security in the western India Ocean Region (IOR),” Singh said.
With the 2 navies being “a driving force in advancing shared interests” in the IOR and the larger Indo-Pacific, they will likewise even more deepen maritime cooperation, including in undersea domain awareness, which ends up being essential with Chinese submarines lurking around in the area.
Similarly, work is underway to fully execute the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Contract (BECA) of 2020, which offers real-time exchange of geospatial intelligence through innovative satellite imagery, topographical and aerial digital information for long-range navigation and identified strikes against opponent targets.
2 other foundational military pacts, the Communications, Compatibility and Security Plan (COMCASA), which enables India access to innovative military platforms with encrypted and secure interactions and data links like armed drones, and the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Contract (LEMOA) are already operational.
While the 2 sides have actually been supplying refuelling and functional turnaround centers to each other’s warships, US aircraft like P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol airplanes have likewise landed at the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar island chain for comparable facilities. The discussion concurred to broaden the scope of such mutual military logistics.
“We’re doing all this because the United States supports India as a defence industry leader in the Indo-Pacific and a net service provider of security in the area. And all of us comprehend the difficulties that we face there,” US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin stated.
“China is seeking to refashion the area and the international system more broadly in manner ins which serve its interests. Therefore I’m pleased that we have actually determined new opportunities to extend the functional reach of our armed forces and to collaborate more closely together throughout the stretch of the Indo-Pacific,” he added.
Published at Tue, 12 Apr 2022 17:56:33 +0000
