NDAA Calls For Increased Cooperation With India On New Technology Readiness

The National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), which funds the United States' annual defence budget, requires the Pentagon to expand its cooperation with India in emerging technology, readiness and logistics, according to a Democratic Senator on Wednesday.

Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and co-chair of the Senate India Caucus said that the NDAA strengthens US-India relations by directing the Departments of Defence and State to pursue greater engagement and expanded cooperation with India in emerging technology, joint research and development, defence and cyber capabilities and other opportunities for collaboration, including reducing India's reliance on Russian-built defence systems.

These provisions support Warner's efforts to highlight the importance of a defence partnership with India, as well as India's accelerated efforts to diversify defence systems, according to the Senator's office, following an agreement by a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives on draught NDAA legislation, which now requires formal approval by both chambers of Congress.

The NDAA, which approved a total defence budget of USD 857.9 billion for 2023, focuses on the most critical national security priorities for the United States, such as strategic competition with China and Russia; disruptive technologies such as hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, 5G and quantum computing and modernising our ships, aircraft and vehicles.

As the NDAA moved through the two chambers, both the House and Senate versions included a provision expressing Congress' belief that a strong US-India defence partnership is critical to advancing US interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

Section 1260 of the NDAA specifies that intelligence collection capabilities, unmanned aerial vehicles, fourth and fifth-generation aircraft, depot-level maintenance, fifth-generation wireless communication, open Radio Access Network technologies, defensive cyber capabilities, cold-weather capabilities and critical and emerging technologies must be included among the new areas of expanded defence cooperation.

The NDAA directs the Defence Secretary to provide a report to Congress within 180 days of the bill's passage on the discussion of opportunities and challenges related to reducing India's reliance on Russian-built weapons and defence systems.