India has expressed interest in co-production of the Stryker infantry vehicles and it is in “relatively” early stages of talks with the U.S. on the Stryker and the javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM), according to the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt M. Campbell.
At the same time, deals for MQ-9B Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and GE-414 jet engines are making progress as well as defence industrial collaborations under the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) framework.
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Discussions on the Stryker have been going on for several months now and officials said the deal could potentially see local manufacture of several hundred variants of the vehicle under licence with some customisations for the Indian Army, including one with the javelin ATGMs mounted on them. However, several defence officials expressed reservations on going for the Stryker given that several such vehicles have been developed and demonstrated by Indian companies in recent years.
“India has expressed an interest in the co-production of Stryker, and I think we’re still in relatively early stages and the U.S. Army plans to demonstrate the capabilities of the Stryker to the Indian army at an early opportunity,” Mr. Campbell stated. “We’ve had some discussions around the co-production of Javelin and Stryker, and again, we’re in relatively early stages here. But I think across the board, we’re exploring a number of avenues for both co-production and engagement around technological areas where we could collaborate together on development more generally in R&D.”
Mr. Campbell was speaking in a virtual briefing on Wednesday on the second India-US iCET dialogue that was chaired by the two National Security Advisers last week.
The U.S. has in the past demonstrated both the Stryker as well as the Javelin ATGM to the Indian Army during bilateral exercises. Javelin was extensively evaluated by the Indian Army, though the deal did not go through.
On the MQ-9B deal, Mr. Campbell noted that the letter of offer and acceptance was delivered to India in early March, and they are awaiting signature to move forward. “General Atomics is negotiating details of the sale with the Ministry of Defence and we’re prepared, obviously, to work with them in addressing any outstanding questions,” he stated.
The deal is in advanced stages and expected to go for approval by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in the next few months. Similarly, the deal for licence manufacture of the GE-414 engines by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to power the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A is also in advanced stages. There is the aspect of separation of the manufacturing facilities by HAL from those involved with Russian hardware and that is being discussed, sources in the know said.
Mr. Campbell said that India and U.S. are launching a new strategic semiconductor partnership between General Atomics and 3rd ITECH to co-develop semiconductor design and manufacturing for precision-guided ammunition and other national security-focused electronics platforms. “And we’re working to expand defence industrial partnerships such as the launch of an Artificial Intelligence multi-domain situational awareness product jointly developed by General Atomics and 114AI to support joint all-domain command and control,” he added.
On iCET, he said it offers the opportunity to blend not just government engagements but to incorporate key players in the private sector, developing and broadening the engagement across societies. For instance, out of $90 million for the U.S.-India Global Challenges Institute, Mr. Campbell said the sum was high-impact university research, and it suggests that India “will increasingly play an important role in critical tech supply chains and clean energy.”
Last week, at the iCET industry CEO roundtable, the industry highlighted specific areas where government facilitation can play a key role in addressing barriers to which both the NSAs assured the industry that they welcome industry communications highlighting specific issues and due diligence will be done to resolve any barriers which hold back deeper and closer India-U.S. ties.
