US and India Launch Autonomous Defence Systems Alliance

New Delhi, Feb 14 (KNN) In a significant move to strengthen defence cooperation, India and the United States have announced the creation of the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA), a new initiative focusing on autonomous systems production and underwater domain awareness.

The announcement came following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, building upon the existing US-India Roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation.

The alliance aims to enhance technological collaboration and scale industry partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

A key development under this initiative is the newly formed partnership between Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group, which will focus on co-developing and co-producing maritime systems and AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).

Additionally, L3 Harris and Bharat Electronics will collaborate on developing active towed array systems, strengthening regional security capabilities.

The partnership extends beyond autonomous systems, encompassing military cooperation across air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace domains. Both nations have committed to enhancing training exercises and operations with cutting-edge technologies.

The upcoming "Tiger Triumph" tri-service exercise in India is set to be more extensive and complex than previous iterations.

To support military deployments in the Indo-Pacific region, both countries have agreed to improve logistics and intelligence sharing capabilities. They will also establish arrangements to enhance force mobility for joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

These developments fall under the broader "US-India COMPACT for the 21st Century" initiative, which aims to drive transformation in Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce, and Technology between the two nations.

The alliance represents a significant step forward in Indo-US defense collaboration, particularly in autonomous systems and maritime security.

(KNN Bureau)