US offers Stryker armoured vehicles and M777 gun upgrade to India

The Pentagon is set to offer New Delhi the "Stryker" family of eight-wheeled armoured fighting vehicles and an upgrade of M777 towed howitzers, in addition to MQ-9 Reaper drones and the production of GE-F414 aircraft engines in India under 100% technology transfer, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Joe Biden on Thursday in Washington.

Defence equipment deals will be a significant part of the outcomes of the visit, which will also see the signing of a deal with Micron for a $ 2.7 billion chip plant in India and a pact on quantum computing and artificial intelligence. The final decision on both the Stryker and upgrading of the M777 light weight howitzer depends on the conditions offered by the US.

The Stryker is an eight into eight wheel drive V-hull armoured infantry vehicle made by General Dynamics Land Systems for quick combat reaction to any insurgent or warlike situation. The US army and NATO forces used the Stryker effectively to combat the Taliban in Afghanistan, arming it with a 30 mm cannon and 105 mm mobile gun.

The US is supplying India with infantry combat vehicles, and the Modi administration is keen to localise the production of armoured vehicles via the "Atmanirbhar Bharat" method.

In order to combat the artillery threat on India's northern frontiers, the US is also reportedly offering to modernise 155 mm M777 howitzers with precision-guided long range ammunition.

There are already 145 M777 howitzers in service in India, 120 of which were produced by Mahindra Defence Systems under a partnership with BAE Systems. Due to the M777's modest weight, it can be flown by helicopter to mountain summits in Jammu and Kashmir or Arunachal Pradesh in the event of an emergency.

The joint statement released at the conclusion of PM Modi's visit to the US will represent the mutual convergence even though India and the US already have an MoU for cyber security cooperation.

The largest purchase is anticipated to be for the F-414 jet engines, which will power domestically produced fighters for the next ten years, as well as "hunter-killer" Reaper drones.

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