Why in news?
- While announcing that defence deals worth around $3 billion would be signed during his visit, Mr. Trump offered a range of high-tech defence equipment to India, on 24th February 2020.
Details
- The deals are for 24 MH-60R Multi-Role Helicopters for the Navy worth $2.2 billion and six AH-64E Apache attack helicopters for the Army worth $800 million. The two deals were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) during the second week of February 2020.
- The other big ticket deals in the pipeline are for armed drones, air defence system, MK-45 127mm naval guns and six more P-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft among others. While these are at various stages of procurement, the U.S. State Department has recently notified the sale of an air defence system to Delhi in a deal worth $1.8 billion.
- India signed the foundational agreement, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), in 2018 which gave the long pending proposal to procure armed Predator drones from the U.S. for the three Services and other deals a push.
