The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and Indian Ministry of Defense (MoD) participated in the second India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit today in New Delhi, India.
Speakers at the INDUS-X Summit explored opportunities to co-produce advanced military capabilities, create resilient defense supply chains, and enhance U.S.-India military interoperability in support of both countries' shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific. Panel participants expanded on several themes inspired by the original INDUS-X collaboration agenda: deepening defense industrial partnerships, increasing collaborative research and testing facility access, mobilizing private capital to support critical defense technologies, and commercializing dual-use technologies. The governments also led a hybrid information session on export controls for U.S. and Indian defense start-ups that aim to form partnerships and co-develop technology.
The summit included announcements on priority efforts under INDUS-X including joint challenges. The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Innovations for Defense Excellence (iDEX) announced the winners of the first two INDUS-X joint challenges, in which companies compete to develop technologies that solve military problems for the DoD and MoD. Following a competitive process supported by military service partners and both governments, ten U.S. and Indian companies won over $1 million to develop technologies related to undersea communications and maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR). At the Summit, DIU and iDEX also announced that they will open applications for two joint challenges focused on space-based ISR in the coming months.
At the Summit, U.S. companies, universities, and nonprofit organizations announced a new consortium committed to expanding testing facility access. The consortium will explore pathways for defense and dual-use companies in the INDUS-X network to test, refine, and integrate their technologies at premier testing ranges across the U.S. and India.
The Summit featured a meeting of two advisory bodies under INDUS-X. First, U.S. and Indian officials convened for the second meeting of the bilateral Senior Advisory Group, which guides future cooperation under the initiative. Second, the U.S. Institute of Peace moderated the inaugural meeting of the INDUS-X Senior Leaders Forum, comprised of U.S. and Indian leaders across industry, private equity, academia, and other sectors who convene to share feedback that informs the trajectory of INDUS-X.
The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) and the Society of Indian Defense Manufacturers (SIDM) organized the Summit, which convened U.S. and Indian defense companies, investors, researchers, and government officials.
The Department and Ministry launched the bilateral initiative INDUS-X in June 2023 to spur defense innovation in critical technologies by facilitating partnerships among U.S. and Indian companies, investors, and universities. INDUS-X is the innovation bridge envisioned by the U.S. and Indian national security advisors under the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET).
The DoD and MoD have released an INDUS-X Fact Sheet to outline both the initiative's progress to date and priority near-term efforts.
