US may rope in India for drones, defence aircraft

The United States is seeking to secure agreements with India for pilot projects for joint production of drones as well as equipment for transport planes in talks next week, ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama, according to a Reuters report citing sources.

Frank Kendall, US undersecretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics, will be making his fourth visit to India to promote collaboration on defence technologies and co-production of weapons systems in an effort to finalize the projects.

An industry source familiar with US-India discussions on the defence initiative said Mr Kendall aimed to finalise two pilot projects, one involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the other involving systems for the C-130 military transport aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp, according to the report.

The source said the drone project involved the RQ-11 "Raven" built by AeroVironment Inc, a small US firm. Raven is the world's most widely-used unmanned aircraft, a lightweight plane that can be used manually, or for autonomous operations.

 The US government strictly controls foreign sales of larger UAVs, but has approved sales of unarmed systems like the Raven, which are used purely for surveillance to a range of countries, including Uzbekistan, according to a US source.

The transport plane project involves manufacturing of roll-on, roll-off modules that allow C-130s to be used for surveillance, or VIP transports or hospitals, according to the Reuters source.

US and Indian officials have declined to comment publicly on the systems under discussion, but the industry source said the aim was to announce the pilot projects during President Obama's planned visit to India to attend the Republic Day holiday, which is marked by a big military parade.