During U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter‘s two-day visit to India in early June, he will sign a 10-year Indo-U.S. Defense Framework Agreement, and focus on major military deals. “We are looking to do more in terms of (military) exercises and joint training and interoperability with our Indian counterparts,” U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Rahul Verma said at the first U.S.-India Think Tank Summit in Delhi on April 28.
Carter is expected to review progress in the four ‘pathfinder’ technologies that the U.S. had agreed to transfer to India under the Defense Trade and Technology Initiative. These include the joint development and manufacture of AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven battlefield unmanned aerial vehicles and roll-on/roll-off ISR modules for the Indian Air Force’s 11 Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 transport aircraft.
Defense World reports that two additional technologies — developing and building mobile electric hybrid power systems, and integrated Protection Ensemble Increment-2 clothing for protection against nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare — will also be transferred.
