Following on the joint U.S.-India Roadmap for defence industrial cooperation, Liquid Robotics, a Boeing company, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt. Ltd, an Indian startup working on unmanned systems, announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to co-develop and co-produce Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV).
“This partnership aims to enhance undersea domain awareness through manufacturing, system of systems interoperability, ocean testing, and the establishment of a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capacity for the Wave Glider ASV platform,” a statement from the companies said. The MoU supports the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) that was announced during te visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the U.S. aimed at expanding industry partnerships and strengthening production capabilities across the Indo-Pacific region, it stated.
“The U.S.-India relationship continues to strengthen, and we see immense potential in deepening our collaboration,” said Salil Gupte, president, Boeing India and South Asia. “This partnership with Sagar Defence Engineering underscores our commitment to co-developing and co-producing critical systems in India, fully aligning with the collaborative vision of both the U.S. and Indian governments outlined in the U.S. – India Joint Leaders Statement last month.”
The Wave Glider is a key platform for U.S.-India collaboration, strengthening tactical readiness in the Indo-Pacific, said Shane Goodenough, CEO of Liquid Robotics. “Partnering with Sagar Defence advances bilateral defense cooperation and supports the ASIA initiative to expand industry partnerships and production across the region.”
As the first such project by a U.S. company in partnership with an Indian startup, this collaboration marks a milestone in U.S.-India defence industrial cooperation, with undersea domain awareness as a key focus, the statement said. “This strategic partnership brings together the best of U.S. and Indian defence capabilities by co-developing advanced technologies like the Wave Glider, our aim to contribute towards fostering innovation within India’s defence ecosystem strengthens,” Capt. Nikunj Parashar (Retd), Founder, Sagar Defence Engineering Pvt. Ltd.
As reported by The Hindu earlier, India and U.S. are scaling up their cooperation in Underwater Domain Awareness (UDA), a key focus for both countries with a new ASIA initiative aimed to scale industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific and has identified a range of UDA technologies identified for co-production in India.
In addition to the Wave Glider, the other technologies identified include Sea Picket autonomous surveillance system with sonar acoustic array produced by Thayer Mahan; Low Frequency Active Towed Sonar; Multi-Static Active (MSA) sonobuoys; Large Diameter Autonomous Undersea Vehicles produced by Andruil; and Triton autonomous underwater and surface vehicle produced by Ocean Aero. Among these, for the MSA Sonobuoys in January, the two countries announced the “first-of-its-kind partnership on co-production” of these high-end technology that allows, tracking submarines in the deep seas and oceans. As part of this Sonobuoys of Ultra Maritime (UM) will be co-produced in India in partnership with defence public sector undertaking Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL).
Published – March 20, 2025 03:06 pm IST
