India and the U.S. signed a Project Agreement (PA) for an Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV) at the end of July. This was done as part of the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). On Friday, the Defense Ministry said that this was a big step forward for both countries.
On July 30, the co-chairs of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Air Systems under the DTTI signed the PA between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
A Ministry statement said, “The PA describes how the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Indian Air Force, and the Defence Research and Development Organisation will work together to design, develop, demonstrate, test, and evaluate systems to co-develop a prototype ALUAV.”
The Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation Memorandum of Agreement between MoD and U.S. DoD, which was signed in January 2006 and renewed in January 2015, covered the PA for the ALUAV, the statement said. It was a big step towards deeper cooperation between the two countries in defence technology by working together to make defence equipment.
The main goal of the DTTI is to provide long-term leadership to encourage the sharing of technologies and create opportunities for the Indian and U.S. military forces to work together to make and develop new technologies. Under the DTTI, Joint Working Groups have been set up to focus on projects in land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies that everyone agrees on.
The Indian and U.S. Air Forces, along with the Aeronautical Development Establishment at the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Aerospace Systems Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, were the main groups that carried out the PA, the statement said.
The DTTI was announced in 2012 as a big plan to co-produce and co-develop military systems. However, despite several attempts, the plan has never really taken off.
In October 2019, as part of efforts to bring back the DTTI, the two sides agreed on a joint statement of intent to deepen defence technology cooperation. This statement also listed specific short-, medium-, and long-term projects under the DTTI, while the JWG on jet engine cooperation was put on hold.
