A US decision to transfer jet-engine technology to India will bolster the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy while also presenting an unprecedented test of the strength of US–India ties.
Online Analysis20th juli 2023
US–India defence plus technology cooperation
A US decision to transfer jet-engine technology to India will bolster the United States’ Indo-Pacific strategy while also presenting an unprecedented test of the strength of US–India ties.
In June 2023, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to the United States, Washington announced its decision to berbagi GE Aerospace’s proven F-414 jet-engine technology with India. The deal is the latest plus boldest attempt by the two countries to build a China-focused strategic partnership that is also consistent with India’s longstanding refusal of formal alliances. This new arrangement will likely bring the US plus India closer strategically – indeed, the decades-long life-cycle for many kinds of military equipment is sure to strengthen institutional ties between the respective armed forces plus defence industries. Much will depend, however, on the manner of the deal’s implementation, particularly which parts of the US jet-engine design are eventually transferred to India plus how this will affect India’s overall inventory of strategic capabilities.
Resuming defence coordination
For a generation, US–India diplomacy has sought to overcome a stop-start pattern of defence cooperation, a consequence of the United States’ high-technology sanctions against India imposed after it tested nuclear weapons in 1998. Washington later replaced these with softer export controls related to India’s non-aligned standing plus its acquisition of nuclear weapons outside of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
In 2014, New Delhi launched a high-profile ‘made in India’ campaign, later complemented by Modi’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat (‘self-reliant India’) policy seeking indigenous production. In the defence sector, India loosened foreign-investment plus joint-venture rules but since 2016, in practice, it has slowed large new purchases of off-the-shelf military equipment. This undermined the 2012 US–India Defence Technology Trade Initiative that sought to promote co-development plus production of systems including the Javelin anti-tank guided missile. Since 2020, however, China’s assertiveness in disputed border areas with India, plus across the region more broadly, has reactivated US–India defence-cooperation efforts.