The truth behind America's extended defence cooperation with India

Defence ministers of India and the United States recently announced an enhanced defence partnership known as INDUS-X, and we will soon witness India’s new defence roadmap. But there is an irony here. While the US is preparing to offer its cutting-edge weapons technology to India, it hopes to use India itself as a weapon because India is the silver bullet the U.S. needs. First, let’s look at how the deal will benefit India. 

BOOSTING INDIA’S AIR PROWESS 

India and the US are on the verge of signing a mega defence deal to jointly manufacture indigenous jet engines, under which the GE-F414 fighter-jet engine will soon be made in India. This is the same engine used in the Boeing Super Hornets and Gripen fighter jets. 

With an estimated thrust of 98 kN, it will power India’s highly-anticipated LCA TEJAS Mk2 and other advanced aircraft in the future. 

Also read | India, a NATO state? Whose gain, whose loss? 

Under the deal, there are also talks of the US MQ-9 reaper drones being fast-tracked to India. This is the same drone that the US used to assassinate Iran's military general Qasem Soleimani and former al-Qaeda Chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri at his home in Kabul, Afghanistan. 

After aviation engines, the India-US partnership will eventually extend to engines powering Indian military ships along with air combat, land mobility systems, intelligence, surveillance, munitions, and the undersea domains. 

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BOOMING DEMAND for TEJAS Mk2

India's LCA Tejas Mk 2, along with the F414 engine will replace India’s ageing MiG-29, Mirage-2000s, and Jaguars. The Mk2 variant of Tejas will be armed with weapons like the Scalp, Crystal Maze, and Spice-2000. For air-to-air combat, it will be armed with the indigenous Astra Mark 1 and Mark 2 missiles and will be capable of carrying about 8-10 BVR (beyond visual range) missiles. From Malaysia to Argentina, a total of 16 countries have already approached India to seek details of the Tejas Mk2.

THE SILVER BULLET US NEEDS

The US is not leaving any stone unturned to pursue India, and why won’t they? Given India’s massive defence spending, which is majorly benefiting Russia at the moment, the US definitely wants a piece of the pie for its own gains and to cut off Russia. Currently, 45% of India’s defence imports are from Russia while a mere 11% are American. 

The other reason is India’s strategic location and control in the Indo-Pacific region where the US is desperately trying to establish itself, to counter its arch-rival China. "India is now one of our premier security partners in the Indo-Pacific," said Major General Julian C. Cheater, US Air Force during Aero India 2023. 

Also read | F-16 fighter jet coalition: Is the West preparing Ukraine for a suicide mission? 

For these two factors, it is absolutely crucial for the US to have India on its side, because in spite of all of America’s advanced weapons and technologies - India is the only silver bullet with which the US can target both Russia and China in a single shot. 

Nothing comes for free in the geopolitical chess game, and the US is doing no favours to India by offering cutting-edge technologies. 

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

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