New Delhi: Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House next week, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has outlined what India is willing to look at in terms of defence procurements from the US.
Defence cooperation will be one of the key elements in the bilateral relations under US President Donald Trump’s administration. After the telephonic conversation between the two leaders last week, the White House had issued a statement saying that Trump asked Modi to buy more American-made security equipment.
There are areas of common interests, Singh said, where “we can engage with them and possibly find common ground and win-win solutions with the new administration”.
He added that there were some procurement projects in the pipeline in which American companies could also bid for.
“We do have some procurements on the anvil in which American companies would be in picture. As long as they are able to meet our requirements in terms of quality and in terms of certain level of indigenisation, those are carrots that we will be able to dangle before the Americans and hopefully we will be able to give some of those contracts,” the defence secretary said at a CNBC held budget discussion on 3 February.
Singh underlined that India had already ordered about 1,500 civilian aircraft from Boeing and Airbus a year and half ago, “which means that we have lost some leverage there”. India had also placed order for Predator drones last year, he added.
“So we are already meeting a good proportion of our requirements from capable American companies, and we continue to do so. There will be significant buys and some of that will go to the US as well.”
The defence secretary also spoke about the order of aircraft engines given to American aerospace giant GE.
“On the anvil there are some other potential areas where we can talk to them in terms of transport aircraft, some infantry vehicles and possibly some additional reconnaissance aircraft. So yes, there are some potential buys, where their companies can be contenders. That is all I would say at this stage,” Singh said, regarding specifically on future projects.
The reference to “some infantry vehicles” is likely for the Stryker. ThePrint was the first to report in February 2023 that India and the US are talking about joint production of armoured personnel carriers.
As ThePrint reported in August 2023, American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin is one of the contenders for the Indian Air Force’s mega contract for medium transport aircraft. The C-130J, which is already with the IAF, is one of the contenders along with the Airbus’ A-400 M and Embraer’s C-390.
In December 2022, the IAF had sought a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost of aircraft and associated equipment for a batch of 40, 60, and 80 aircraft.
While the C-130 J just meets the minimum requirement with its airlift capacity of about 20 tonnes, the C-390 meets the upper requirement mentioned by the IAF with its load carrying capacity of 26 tonnes. The A-400 M goes beyond the specified requirement with its capacity of 37 tonnes.
The additional reconnaissance aircraft that the defence secretary has spoken about is P-8i. The Indian Navy already operates a fleet of 12 P-8i aircraft and talks are on for additional six more. The Navy is keen on procuring the long-range maritime surveillance and anti-submarine aircraft, but the acquisition cost is a hurdle.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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