NEW DELHI: India and the US have inked two key agreements to further enhance their defence-industrial cooperation and supply chain resilience as well as military liaison and interoperability, with defence minister Rajnath Singh stating that the two countries “together are a formidable force which can ensure peace, prosperity and stability in the world”.
Singh underlined the various opportunities for co-development and co-production of advanced weapon systems available in India under the ambitious bilateral defence-industrial cooperation roadmap, which was finalized in June last year, during his delegation-level meeting with US secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin in Washington on Friday.
“The ministers held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral defence cooperation, industrial collaboration, regional security and other international issues,” an official said. China’s aggressive tactics in the Indo-Pacific also figured in the discussions, a source said.
The first pact that was inked is the Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA), which will further integrate defence-industrial ecosystems of India and the US, while strengthening the resilience of their supply chains.
The other was a MoU on the “assignment of military liaison officers”, under which a Colonel-rank Indian officer will now be posted to the US Special Operations Command at Florida. Another India officer will be at the Indo-Pacific Command at Hawaii.
The two sides also appreciated the progress made in operationalising the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness, an initiative by the “Quad” countries. While Indian warships are already participating in operations of the 42-nation Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) led by the US in Bahrain, India shall also deploy officers at the `Combined Task Force-150’ HQ by next year.
“The signing of SOSA and the agreement for positioning of Indian officers at key US commands are pathbreaking developments,” Singh said. Under SOSA, India and the US agreed to “provide reciprocal priority support for goods and services that promote national defence”. It will enable both countries “to acquire industrial resources they need from each other to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions to meet national security needs”, the Pentagon said.
This becomes important in the backdrop of the current delay in supply of GE-F404 turbofan jet engines to Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) by US firm General Electric. It is one the main reasons that has led to a setback in the delivery timeframe of 83 Tejas Mark-1A jets to IAF, contracted from HAL under the Rs 46,898 crore contract in Feb 2021.
India and the US are now also conducting the final techno-commercial negotiations for the co-production of GE-F414 jet engines by General Electric and HAL for the planned Tejas Mark-II fighters in India, with 80% transfer of technology for around $1 billion.
India is the 18th SOSA partner of the US, with the others being Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
The SOSA is an enabling pact but not legally-binding. It comes after the two sides concluded the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) in Dec 2019 to facilitate deeper bilateral defence-industrial cooperation on “classified cooperation projects”. It is to be followed by the legally-binding Reciprocal Defence Procurement (RDP) agreement.
Under the defence-industrial cooperation roadmap, the two sides aim to fast-track technology collaboration and co-production of existing as well as futuristic weapon systems and platforms.
The priority areas identified in the roadmap are air combat and support, including aero-engines; ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) systems; ground mobility systems; undersea domain awareness; and smart munitions, including long-range artillery ammunition.
Singh underlined the various opportunities for co-development and co-production of advanced weapon systems available in India under the ambitious bilateral defence-industrial cooperation roadmap, which was finalized in June last year, during his delegation-level meeting with US secretary of defence Lloyd J Austin in Washington on Friday.
“The ministers held wide-ranging discussions on bilateral defence cooperation, industrial collaboration, regional security and other international issues,” an official said. China’s aggressive tactics in the Indo-Pacific also figured in the discussions, a source said.
The first pact that was inked is the Security of Supplies Arrangement (SOSA), which will further integrate defence-industrial ecosystems of India and the US, while strengthening the resilience of their supply chains.
The other was a MoU on the “assignment of military liaison officers”, under which a Colonel-rank Indian officer will now be posted to the US Special Operations Command at Florida. Another India officer will be at the Indo-Pacific Command at Hawaii.
The two sides also appreciated the progress made in operationalising the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness, an initiative by the “Quad” countries. While Indian warships are already participating in operations of the 42-nation Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) led by the US in Bahrain, India shall also deploy officers at the `Combined Task Force-150’ HQ by next year.
“The signing of SOSA and the agreement for positioning of Indian officers at key US commands are pathbreaking developments,” Singh said. Under SOSA, India and the US agreed to “provide reciprocal priority support for goods and services that promote national defence”. It will enable both countries “to acquire industrial resources they need from each other to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions to meet national security needs”, the Pentagon said.
This becomes important in the backdrop of the current delay in supply of GE-F404 turbofan jet engines to Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) by US firm General Electric. It is one the main reasons that has led to a setback in the delivery timeframe of 83 Tejas Mark-1A jets to IAF, contracted from HAL under the Rs 46,898 crore contract in Feb 2021.
India and the US are now also conducting the final techno-commercial negotiations for the co-production of GE-F414 jet engines by General Electric and HAL for the planned Tejas Mark-II fighters in India, with 80% transfer of technology for around $1 billion.
India is the 18th SOSA partner of the US, with the others being Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
The SOSA is an enabling pact but not legally-binding. It comes after the two sides concluded the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) in Dec 2019 to facilitate deeper bilateral defence-industrial cooperation on “classified cooperation projects”. It is to be followed by the legally-binding Reciprocal Defence Procurement (RDP) agreement.
Under the defence-industrial cooperation roadmap, the two sides aim to fast-track technology collaboration and co-production of existing as well as futuristic weapon systems and platforms.
The priority areas identified in the roadmap are air combat and support, including aero-engines; ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) systems; ground mobility systems; undersea domain awareness; and smart munitions, including long-range artillery ammunition.
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