The partnership marks a significant milestone in India's pursuit of a self-reliant defence ecosystem, strengthening Indo-US defence collaboration and fostering a competitive, globally integrated aerospace manufacturing base.
In a major boost for the armed forces' surveillance capabilities, India and the US are set to sign Rs 32,000 crore deals for acquiring 31 Predator drones and setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility for them in India.
In a mega boost for the Indian Navy and surveillance capabilities of the defence forces, the Cabinet Committee on Security has cleared the major deals for building two nuclear submarines indigenously and buying 31 Predator drones from the US.
The failure of power generators and batteries on board the MQ-9B Predator drones operated for the Indian Navy by an American firm led to its crash last week off the Chennai coast.
US firm General Atomics is expected to replace the MQ-9B Predator drone at the earliest to carry out surveillance missions for the Indian Navy as per the requirements projected in the contract between the two sides.
The Indian Navy said that a High Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft (HALE RPA) encountered a technical failure on Wednesday, after which the aircraft was navigated to a safe area over the sea and carried out a controlled ditching at sea off Chennai.
As part of the USD 3.1 billion 31 MQ-9B Predator drone deal between India and the US, American side is proposing to provide consultancy to Indian entities for developing an indigenous advanced unmanned aerial vehicle.
The Indian Army and the Air Force are planning to jointly deploy MQ-9B Predator drones at air bases in Sarsawa and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, for upgrading their surveillance capabilities all along the Line of Actual Control with China from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
Praising the defence partnership between the two nations, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said that both the US and India are looking for solutions together amid the ongoing shift in nature of warfare.
"We are the lead servers who are steering it. The letter of request has been cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council and the letter of request has gone to the US government. They have given us a draft letter of availability. Now the final one will come. It has to be placed before the (the
The deal was announced during Prime Minister Modi's visit last year, marking substantial growth in the US-India defence partnership over the past decade.