President Biden indicates positive movement towards India's plan to procure 31 MQ-9B drones from US soon

Wilmington: US President Joe Biden welcomed the progress towards India concluding the procurement of 31 long-endurance MQ-9B armed drones from American defence major General Atomics as he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed to boost two-way reciprocal supply of defence hardware amid common concerns over China's growing military might.

The US President hosted Modi at his personal home in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday afternoon and the two leaders held wide-ranging talks covering various key aspects of India-US ties including ways to further ramp up bilateral defence and military engagement.

A joint fact-sheet on Modi-Biden talks said the two leaders recognised the remarkable progress achieved under the US-India defence industrial cooperation roadmap, including ongoing collaboration to advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems.

"President Biden welcomed the progress towards India concluding procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment, which will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities of India's armed forces across all domains," it said.

India is procuring the 'hunter-killer' drones (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) from US Defence major General Atomics at a cost of over USD 3 billion primarily to crank up its surveillance apparatus along the frontier with China as well as in the Indian Ocean region.

It is learnt that the price negotiations for the procurement have been sealed and both sides are likely to formally conclude the deal by next month.

The remotely piloted drones are capable of remaining airborne for around 35 hours and can be deployed on a range of missions.

However, there was no specific mention of the ambitious plan to co-produce F-414 fighter jet engines in India.

In June last year, GE Aerospace inked a pact with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to co-produce the engines.

In the talks, Modi and Biden welcomed teaming of Liquid Robotics and Sagar Defence Engineering for the co-development and co-production of unmanned surface vehicle systems that will strengthen undersea and maritime domain awareness.

The two leaders also applauded the recent conclusion of the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA), enhancing the mutual supply of defence goods and services, according to the fact-sheet.

"Both Leaders committed to advance ongoing discussions on aligning their respective defense procurement systems to further enable the reciprocal supply of defence goods and services," it said.

President Biden also welcomed India's decision to set a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) of five percent on the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector, including on all aircraft and aircraft engine parts.

The appreciation came as the simplified tax regime will pave the way for building a strong ecosystem for MRO services in India.

The leaders also encouraged the industry to foster collaboration and drive innovation to support India's efforts to become a leading aviation hub.

Modi and Biden also lauded commitments from the US industry to further increase India's MRO capabilities, including for the repair of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The two leaders also hailed the recent teaming agreement between Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd on the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft programme.

Eyeing India's requirement of military transport planes, Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Ltd announced on September 10 a "teaming agreement" to expand engagement through the C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifter project.

The announcement was seen as a significant step in enhancing India's defence and aerospace capabilities.

"Building on longstanding industry cooperation, this agreement will establish a new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the readiness of the Indian fleet and global partners who operate the C-130 Super Hercules aircraft," the joint document said.

"This marks a significant step in US-India defense and aerospace cooperation and reflects the two sides’ deepening strategic and technology partnership ties," it said.

Delving into futuristic collaborations, Modi and Biden commended work to advance cooperation in advanced domains, including space and cyber.

Areas of new cooperation will include threat information sharing, cybersecurity training, and collaboration on vulnerability mitigation in energy and telecommunications networks.

The prime minister and the president also complimented the growing defence innovation collaboration between the two governments, businesses, and academic institutions fostered by the India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) initiative launched in 2023.

"They welcomed the enhanced collaboration between the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and US Department of Defence’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) through the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Silicon Valley Summit," the fact-sheet said.