US seeks joint production of weapons

The Pentagon today informed the Ministry of Defence that the US is willing to jointly develop and produce futuristic weapon systems with Ind...

The Pentagon today informed the Ministry of Defence that the US is willing to jointly develop and produce futuristic weapon systems with India. Details about which weapons concepts Washington has in mind will be detailed to Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee when he visits the US in June.

Director of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency Lt Gen Jeffrey Kohler, who arrived here on Wednesday, said today: ‘‘I will be reporting my activities here to the US Congress sometime next week. This was a follow-up visit to that of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.’’

According to South Block sources, while the Pentagon has given no indication so far about what futuristic systems it would like to jointly develop with India, the list is likely to include military software, command and control equipment, guidance technology and battle surveillance systems.

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Actual warfare items may be part of a later agreement, though a memorandum to be signed later this year will allow the US Defence industry to set the ball rolling with the DRDO.

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			JAKARTA: India, a candidate for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, on Thursday rejected the rationale that new permanent members should not have the veto power. External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh conveyed this to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan during a meeting here. Singh told Annan that the argument of evolving consensus for the UN’s expansion could delay the process of revising the UN charter or even result in that not taking place at all. ‘‘There is a difficult task ahead of us to determine which formula of the report of the UN Secretary-General’s high panel would meet the needs of today,’’ an External Affairs Ministry spokesman quoted Natwar Singh as saying. — PTI

Kohler and a team of senior US Navy and air force officials also met the IAF’s Deputy Chief Air Marshal J.S. Gujral for two hours and gave a technical presentation on the F-16 Falcon and F/A-18 Super Hornet that Washington will field in a 126-fighter tender to be floated by the government later this year.

‘‘We held preliminary discussions with IAF officers today. I will be coming back in the near future to provide additional information. We made it clear that we are offering them the latest technology,’’ Kohler said.

Kohler and his team explained both aircraft’s weight, performance, position in upgrade cycle, avionics, cockpits, targeting systems and displays.

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Licensed production of the aircraft also came up for discussion at South Block, though a concrete decision will be taken only once the request for information has been fully supplied by the two American firms vying for the deal — Boeing and Lockheed-Martin — which are set to receive licences to conduct business directly with the Indian Government later this month.