US End Use Monitoring, tech transfer laws to affect third country sales to India

The End Use Monitoring pact between the US and India agreed during the visit of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US laws governing transfer of technology will apply to any military purchase containing US components by India from a third country.

Significantly, this will also apply to the non-US contenders for the 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contest of the Indian Air Force (IAF) that carry US components.

Discussing the impact of the End Use Monitoring pact and US laws relating to transfer of technology on the F-16’s bid for the order, Vice President of Business Development at Lockheed Martin, Orville Prins launched a not-so-subtle broadside at the competition and said, “End Use Monitoring would apply to some other fighters too, for that matter, if they have US systems on board.”

Prins is in India along with the Lockheed Martin team for the IAF trials of the F-16 due to begin next month and slated to end by September 18. “I have heard the Gripen has 35 to 40 per cent US systems,” said Prins, referring to the aircraft fielded by Sweden’s Saab, adding, “Full transfer of technology must be questioned if it has US systems on board. And it is more than just the Gripen that has US systems on board.”

The engine of the Gripen is made by the US General Electric and Sweden’s Volvo. The Eurofighter Typhoon’s Direct Voice Input system which allows the pilot to control certain non-critical systems by voice command has technical participation by General Electric Aviation Systems, General Dynamics and Texas Instruments. Currently, it also carries Raytheon’s AMRAAM air-to-air missile.