A bill titled ‘United States-India Defense Cooperation Act of 2024’ was proposed by Republican US Senator Marco Rubio in July this year, which lays down the framework for strengthening Indo-US ties beyond the four foundational agreements (GSOMIA, LSA/LEMOA, CISMOA and BECA). It is pertinent to mention here that India had proposed inking these four agreements together, but the US stretched their individual signing over 18 years – from 2002 to 2020, using the intervening period for ‘coercion’, which is the hallmark of American strategy.
Rubio’s proposed bill prioritises transferring America’s ‘Excess Defence Articles to India – equivalent to NATO allies. It may be noted here that in 2016 the US recognised India as a ‘Major Defense Partner’ after the House of Representatives passed the India Defense Technology Act. But when it comes to the transfer of technology to India, America has little to show since 2016 despite grabbing billions of dollars worth of defence deals from India.
Notably, the proposed bill also delineates India’s land and maritime borders “as recognised by the US”, not as per the United Nations; under section 2, (a) (2); implying that if any allegations like the Uri, Pathankot, and Pulwama are levelled by India against Pakistan, US Congress is liable to intervene, and any assistance to Pakistan by the United States may be suspended. This is utter crap because the US has never recognised Kashmir as integral to India – always calling it ‘disputed territory’, which is unlikely to change.
Besides, the US has never taken decisive action against Pakistan’s proxy war on India, other than designating some Pakistanis ‘terrorists’, even placing a price on their heads but never taking them out. Most significantly, the Siachen controversy was deliberately started by the US in 1967 when the US Defense Mapping Agency began showing the Indo-Pakistan boundary on Tactical Pilotage Charts from NJ 9842 to the Karakoram (KK) Pass without justification or documentation; cartographically giving the entire Siachen-Saltoro area to Pakistan. Many official-private cartographers and atlas producers followed suit and Pakistan eventually started claiming this as the boundary.
The close links between the CIA, MI6 and ISI indicate the strategic significance of Pakistan to the US. Pakistan is also a source of providing ‘proxy boots’ to the US. The Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) was raised in Peshawar (Pakistan) in coordination with the CIA. Besides, the US has used Pakistan as the transit point to push Islamic State cadres into Afghanistan, particularly in the Badakhshan region bordering Tajikistan.
The ground truth is that America’s defence cooperation with India is high on semantics but small in execution, which is by design. The US aim always is to grab defence deals, make big promises and then delay the follow-up – keeping India guessing. The proposed ‘United States-India Defense Cooperation Act of 2024’ is also a similar exercise in semantics – full of holes and deception, which does not merit its detailed analysis.
In 2016, the US recognised India as a ‘Major Defense Partner’ after the House of Representatives passed the India Defense Technology Act. But when it comes to the transfer of technology to India, America has little to show since then despite grabbing billions of dollars worth of deals.
How the US has upset the delivery schedule of Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF) because the American firm General Electric (GE) is not supplying the F-404-IN20 engines to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has been covered in these columns earlier (US Upsets Tejas Schedule). GE was to deliver 99 x F-404-IN20 engines, with delivery commencing March 2024, to cater for the IAFs order of 83 x Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft deal signed in 2021.
According to the contract terms, GE was to deliver engines at the rate HAL was to deliver the aircraft; 16 in each financial year. But GE has failed to deliver. As a result, the first aircraft of the Tejas Mk-1A series, LA 5033, flew in March 2024 with Category B engines, which are reserve machines that may have been used in the past or those that had remained unused as part of an earlier deal with GE for the Tejas series. Significantly, the US has approved only 80 per cent transfer of technology of the GE engine, not 100 per cent it has been announcing.
When Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the US in August 2024 for discussions with his American counterpart and to attend the meeting of the ‘US-India Strategic Partnership Forum’, he raised the issue of non-supply of the F404-IN20 engines by GE under the contract signed. More delay is likely since GE has come up with a new delivery schedule commencing November 2024, two engines per month.
The US has upset the delivery schedule of Tejas Mk-1A fighters to the IAF because General Electric has not supplied the F-404-IN20 engines to HAL. GE was to deliver 99 engines, with delivery commencing March 2024. Now, GE has come up with a new delivery schedule.
Whether GE will be able to stick to its revised delivery schedule only time will tell but with the depleting operational fighter aircraft strength, the IAF is reportedly working on ordering an additional 97 Tejas fighter aircraft to strengthen its fleet. In the face of escalating tensions with China and Pakistan, the IAF wants HAL to ramp up production of Tejas fighter aircraft.
Knowing the criticality of the fighter aircraft strength in the IAF, the delay in the delivery of engines by GE (for use in Tejas Mk-1A and Tejas Mk-2) may be deliberate because the US has been offering India the F-22 and now the F-16; the latter perhaps after one of the five F-16 gifted to Ukraine was shot down.
During the visit of the then US President Donald Trump to India in February 2020, the procurement of six Boeing Apache AH-64E attack helicopters for the Indian Army was part of the $800 million deal signed between the two nations, At the time of signing the deal, Boeing had committed to deliver all six helicopters by February 2024 but not one has been delivered to date.
After prolonged and unexplained delays, and repeated concerns raised at various levels by New Delhi, the first batch of Boeing Apache AH-64E attack helicopters ‘may’ finally be handed over to the Indian Army by the end of 2024 or in early 2025, but nothing can be said for certain given the unreliability of Boeing. The delivery is supposed to be in two batches of three helicopters each, with an interval of three to four months. Indian queries sent to Boeing regarding the revised timeline and the reasons for the delay affecting India’s military operational capabilities given the ongoing tensions at the borders, did not receive a response from the company. With Boeing supplying Apache AH-64E attack helicopters to some 20 countries, the inordinate delay in supplying six of these to India is obviously deliberate, perhaps on a signal from the US Administration.
In pursuit of Aatmanirbharta in Defence, India wanted to mount the indigenous air-to-air missiles on the MQ-9B Predator drones. However, General Atomics has quoted a prohibitive cost to ensure the fitment of Indian missiles on the US Predator drones is shelved.
With the increasing Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean region, especially submarines, India has endevoured to enhance the combat capacity of the Indian Navy for conducting anti-submarine warfare operations. To this end, India wants to procure sonobuoys that can be air-launched from the US-supplied MH-60 helicopters with the Indian Navy, since these are expendable, effective and affordable, with electro-mechanical sensors designed to relay underwater sounds to remote processors.
According to a US Congressional notification, India had sought the purchase of AN/SSQ-530 High Altitude Anti-Submarine Warfare (HAASW) sonobuoys, AN/SSQ-62F HAASW sonobuoys and AN/SSQ-36 HAASW sonobuoys. However, according to news reports of September 12, 2024, the US Department of Defence (DoD) has notified the US Congress only the sale of AN/SSQ-62F HAASW to India worth US$52.8 million.
On July 30, 2024, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, cleared the procurement of MQ-9B Predator drones from US firm General Atomics valued at approximately $3.1 billion, is now pending expenditure approval from the Finance Ministry and final authorisation from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). The acquisition must be completed by October 31 to avoid potential price increases from the manufacturer. The plan is to procure 31 MQ-9B Predator drones, each equipped with air-to-surface missiles and laser-guided bombs. In pursuit of Aatmanirbharta in Defence, India wanted to mount the indigenous air-to-air missiles on these MQ-9B Predator drones. However, General Atomics has quoted a prohibitive cost (details not known) to ensure the fitment of Indian missiles on the US Predator drones is shelved.
-The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.
