US eyes India drone, C-130 project deals for Obama trip

WASHINTON, Jan 15 (Reuters): The United States (US) aims to secure agreements with India to start pilot projects for joint production of drones as well as equipment for transport planes in talks next week ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama, a US industry source said Wednesday.
Frank Kendall, US undersecretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics, will be making his fourth visit to India to promote collaboration on defence technologies and co-production of weapons systems in an effort to finalize the projects.
Kendall's spokeswoman Maureen Schumann said he will meet with Defence Secretary Radha Krishna Mathur, Secretary for Defence Production G. Mohan Kumar and Scientific Advisor to the Minister of Defence Avinash Chander.
"His primary objective is to continue momentum on the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), which promotes collaboration on defence technology and enables co-production and co-development of critical defence systems," Schumann said.
An industry source familiar with US-India discussions on the defence initiative said Kendall aimed to finalize two pilot projects, one involving unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the other involving systems for the C-130 military transport aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp.
The source said the drone project involved the RQ-11 "Raven" built by AeroVironment Inc, a small US firm. Raven is the world's most widely used unmanned aircraft, a lightweight plane that can be used manually, or for autonomous operations.
The US government strictly controls foreign sales of larger UAVs, but has approved sales of unarmed systems like the Raven, which are used purely for surveillance to a range of countries, including Uzbekistan, according to a US source.
The transport plane project involves manufacturing of roll-on, roll-off modules that allow C-130s to be used for surveillance, and as VIP transports or hospitals, according to the industry source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the discussions.
US and Indian officials have declined to comment publicly on the systems under discussion, but the industry source said the aim was to announce the pilot projects during Obama's planned visit to India to attend the country's Jan. 26 Republic Day holiday, which is marked by a big military parade.
Lockheed declined comment on any specific co-production agreement, but a spokesman said teams from five Indian universities were participating in a design challenge to develop C-130 modules for use in disaster relief around the world.
India has received five C-130Js built by Lockheed, and six more planes are on order through 2017, parts of which will be built in India.
No comment was immediately available from AeroVironment.
The United States is keen to develop its political and strategic ties with India, with which it shares concerns about China's increasingly assertive territorial claims in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not have to face a US lawsuit claiming he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting in 2002, a federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday.
US District Judge Analisa Torres upheld the US Department of State's determination that Modi is entitled to immunity as a sitting head of government from civil lawsuits filed in US courts.
The lawsuit, filed in September by an obscure human rights group on the eve of Modi's maiden visit to the United States, made international headlines at the time, though officials from both countries brushed it off as a distraction.
Joseph Whittington, the president of the human rights group American Justice Center and a city council member in Harvey, Illinois, acknowledged in September that the case had little chance of succeeding but said there was victory in "symbolism."
Babak Pourtavoosi, a lawyer who represented the center, and Whittington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The judge's decision comes ahead of a planned visit by President Barack Obama to attend India's Jan. 26 Republic Day celebrations at Modi's invitation.
The lawsuit claimed Modi, a Hindu nationalist, did nothing to halt riots in his home state of Gujarat in which more than 1,000 people died in reprisals after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire.
As a result of the allegations, Modi was denied a US visa in 2005, but Obama was quick to invite him to the United States after Modi's election as prime minister.
The September visit was intended to revitalize the two countries' relationship, which was severely strained in 2013 when US authorities in New York arrested an Indian diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, for underpaying a domestic worker and subjected her to a strip search. The State Department later granted her immunity and essentially had her expelled in a series of diplomatic maneuvers.