India-US tie up for Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

WHY IN THE NEWS?

India and the United States had signed a Project Agreement for the ‘Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’ in the end of July 2021.

About:

• Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV) will be launched under the ambit of Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
• The PA was signed on July 30 in between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) by co-chairs of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Air Systems.
• The agreement highlights the collaboration between Indian Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory, and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the design, development, demonstration, testing and evaluation of systems in a bid to co-develop an ALUAV prototype.

Background

The project agreement for the ALUAV is under the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation Memorandum of Agreement that was first signed between MoD and U.S. DoD in January 2006. Agreement was renewed in January 2015.

Significance of the project

Project agreement is a significant step to deepen the defence technology collaboration in between India and United States by co-developing the defence equipment.

Aim of the DTTI

The Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) was launched with the aim of bringing sustained leadership focus in a bid to promote collaborative technology exchange between both the countries. It also seeks to create opportunities for co-production and co-development of future technologies military forces of India and US. Under the initiative, a Joint Working Groups on land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies have been set up to focus on mutually agreed projects in respective domains. Initiative was announced in 2012 as an ambitious initiative for the co-production and co-development of military systems.