Trump, Modi announce new US-India autonomous systems partnership
The United States and India are launching a new Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) aimed at boosting co-development and co-production of maritime drones and counter-drone systems.
The announcement was made in a joint statement issued by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi late Thursday night. Modi was in Washington on an official visit.
Via the ASIA initiative, the two nations hope to “scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific.”
The leaders highlighted a new partnership between Anduril and Mahindra Group focused on “advanced autonomous technologies to co-develop and co-produce state-of-the-art maritime systems and advanced AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to strengthen regional security,” among other bilateral efforts.
DefenseScoop reached out to Anduril and Mahindra Group Friday morning seeking additional information and comment.
“This collaboration between Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group represents a shared commitment to advancing technological innovation and expanding joint opportunities to further capabilities in the Indo-Pacific. Anduril and Mahindra will work together to provide advanced capacity to India, leveraging Anduril’s autonomous systems and advanced AI solutions, and software-defined hardware to enhance operational effectiveness across multiple domains,” Anduruil said in a statement. “The partnership is focused on counter-drone technology and maritime capabilities. We’re not sharing additional information beyond that at this point.”
Anduril has already developed a variety of AI capabilities, autonomous drones and counter-drone systems for the U.S. military, including unmanned aerial systems and unmanned underwater vehicles.
The ASIA initiative falls under the new “U.S.-India COMPACT (Catalyzing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century” that was announced by Trump and Modi on Thursday.
“The leaders … pledged to elevate military cooperation across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies,” per the joint statement. They also promised to accelerate defense technology cooperation across space, air defense, missile, maritime and undersea technologies, and enhance logistics and intelligence sharing.
Trump and Modi are eyeing a broader, 10-year framework for the U.S.-India defense partnership. They announced their intent to open negotiations for a reciprocal defense procurement agreement and boost the supply of defense goods and services.
Anduril, a California-headquartered defense technology company founded in 2017, has been racking up major contract wins in recent years for hardware and software, and cementing new industry partnerships. Just this week, the firm and Microsoft announced plans for Anduril to take over leadership of the Army’s Integrated Visual Augmentation Systems (IVAS) program, which could be worth nearly $22 billion if it reaches full fruition.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s new secretary of defense, has said that the Pentagon should prioritize investments in AI, unmanned platforms and counter-drone systems.
“I think we have a unique opportunity to tap into industry, Silicon Valley, other” innovation hubs, Hegseth said last week during a town hall with troops at the Pentagon. “We also have some really fast-moving newer contractors that are willing to work, that have already put a lot of money into R&D that want to help us rapidly field these new systems that we’re going to need for fights in the future.”
Updated on Feb. 14, 2025, at 11:15 AM: This story has been updated to include a statement from Anduril.
