India and the United States have signed an agreement for cooperation in the development of Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV), in yet another step to further expand bilateral defence and military cooperation.
The defence ministry issued a statement saying that the Project Agreement (PA) for ALUAV was signed on July 30 under the overall framework of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
The pact was signed between the Ministry of Defence and the US Department of Defence.
The defence ministry described it as a significant step towards deepening defence technology cooperation between India and the US.
The pact falls under the ambit of the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E) agreement between the two sides that was first signed in 2006 and renewed in January 2015.
Pursuant to the Defence Ministry, the main aim of DTTI is to bring sustained leadership focus in order to endorse collaborative technology exchange and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of future technologies for Indian and US military forces.
Under DTTI, Joint Working Groups on land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies have been established to give focus on mutually agreed projects in respective domains.
In June 2016, the US had designated India as a “Major Defence Partner”.
The two countries have also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their militaries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provides for deeper cooperation.
The two sides have also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 that provides for interoperability between the two militaries and the sale of high-end technology from the US to India.
In October last year, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties. The pact provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries.