Another Round, No Results: India–US Carrier Talks Remain Stuck in Symbolism
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Another Round, No Results: India–US Carrier Talks Remain Stuck in Symbolism
Rahul Bedi
19 minutes ago
Was it anything more than a gesture – an illusion of continuity – made with the full knowledge that nothing substantive would emerge?
The eighth Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) between the Indian and US navies held from May 13–16. Photo: Press Information Bureau
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Chandigarh: The only 'significant milestone' the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could cite from the recent eighth Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation (JWGACTC) between the Indian and US navies is simply that it happened at all.
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) noted that the three-day meeting – held from May 13-16 and co-chaired by the Indian Navy's Rear Admiral Vishal Bishnoi and the US Navy's Rear Admiral Casey Moton – took place under the aegis of the long-dormant Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), launched in 2012.
As with its seven predecessors, the PIB highlighted 'valuable information' exchange and a joint statement, yet provided no concrete outcomes – underscoring the DTTI's legacy of lofty rhetoric and minimal delivery.
Though not formally shuttered, the DTTI has remained effectively inactive for over a decade. Military officials and analysts widely regard it as a symbolic relic – functioning more as a placeholder for JWGACTC meetings than a credible mechanism for defence cooperation.
'Upmarket talking shop for avid navalists'
The JWGACTC itself has long been dismissed by Indian Navy insiders as an 'upmarket talking shop for avid navalists,' largely due to the MoD's ongoing reluctance to approve a second indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-2) following the commissioning of INS Vikrant in 2022.
Discussions have repeatedly centred on Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) constructing a 65,000-tonne, conventionally powered carrier – tentatively called INS Vishal – with a US-made Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) from General Atomics, supporting CATOBAR (Catapult Assisted Take-Off But Arrested Recovery) operations.
However, defence industry sources confirm that Vishal remains far from sanctioned. Instead, the MoD is reportedly considering a more modest 'interim' step: commissioning a second Vikrant-class 40,000-tonne carrier. This would both preserve CSL's shipbuilding capacity and advance the Indian Navy's long-standing ambition of operating three carriers – one for each seaboard, with one in reserve.
The DTTI, initially unveiled by then US Deputy Defence Secretary Ashton Carter in 2012, aimed to fast-track defence collaboration by bypassing bureaucratic roadblocks. India also signed four foundational defence agreements intended to deepen military cooperation and interoperability.
The initiative began with four 'pathfinder' projects – including joint development of Mobile Electric Hybrid Power Systems (MEHPS) and chemical-biological protective clothing – but these, along with two later additions (the Raven UAV and ISR modules for the C-130J-30), languished due to tepid domestic interest and were eventually shelved.
Subsequent attempts to revive the DTTI, including the addition of digital helmet-mounted displays, tactical biological detection systems, and proposals for joint development of ground combat vehicles and helicopters, similarly faltered. These clashed with indigenous programmes and met the same quiet demise.
Also Read: Rafale-M Imports Will Spare Navy From Sailing World-Class Carrier Without World-Class Aircraft
Even as India was designated a 'Major Defence Partner' by the US and the US Senate pushed for deeper defence cooperation via legislation, the DTTI remained mired in bureaucratic inertia. At one point, it included seven working groups across a range of technology domains, but these too faded without delivering results.
Sources attribute the DTTI's collapse to persistent shortcomings: indecision on the Indian side, and a paternalistic US approach offering low-grade technology. A senior Indian military officer involved in DTTI negotiations remarked that the initiative's failure starkly contrasted the otherwise growing India–US strategic partnership. 'There was a major gap between ambition and delivery,' he said. 'Eventually, it all collapsed.'
By January 2023, the DTTI was effectively replaced by the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET), launched in Washington under the guidance of both countries' National Security Advisers.
ICET focuses on six broad areas: defence, space, next-gen telecom (including 6G), artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and advanced biotechnology. In a Pentagon briefing in early 2024, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder described ICET as a shift from defence sales to joint innovation, calling it 'modular, scalable, and industry-driven.'
ICET faces significant structural challenges
But despite its ambitious design, ICET too faces significant structural challenges.
Industry insiders note that while ICET aims to ease US regulatory barriers to advanced tech transfers, most American defence firms – which hold the intellectual property – operate independently of government mandates and are reluctant to share costly proprietary technologies.
These firms remain bound by stringent export controls and are accountable primarily to shareholders, not US strategic policy – posing a fundamental obstacle to meaningful joint production or technology transfer.
Current ICET deliverables include plans to manufacture General Electric's F-414 engines in India for the Tejas Mk-II and locally assemble 31 MQ-9 Reaper drones. But even here, progress has been slow. Technology transfer for the drones from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems is reportedly around 10-15% and includes establishing a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility for the UAVs in India.
Ultimately, analysts say commercial realities and bureaucratic drag continue to undermine both DTTI and ICET. As one expert put it: the DTTI collapsed under the weight of mismatched expectations; ICET risks a similar fate unless these foundational issues are addressed.
This begs the question: What was the purpose of convening the eighth JWGACTC under the DTTI banner? Was it anything more than a gesture – an illusion of continuity – made with the full knowledge that nothing substantive would emerge?
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