Sign of growing defence ties, two US Navy ships undergo repairs at Indian shipyard

Indicating the commitment of the US Navy and Department of Defense to utilize ship repair and maintenance facilities in India, two large cargo ferrying vessels of the US Navy successfully underwent repairs in an Indian shipyard, over the last seven months. USNS Matthew Perry, a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the US Navy is the latest to sail out of the southern Indian city of Chennai after undergoing maintenance works at the Larsen & Toubro shipyard here. Matthew Perry underwent voyage repairs in Chennai for a little over two weeks - between March 11th and 27th. 

The USNS Matthew Perry measures 210 meters in length, and 32.3 meters in breadth and has a tonnage of 35,300 tons. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had expressed intent to utilize ship repair facilities in India, at the US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in Washington DC in April 2022. 

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Judith Ravin, US Consul General in Chennai said that the US is a proud Indo-Pacific nation and the US vital interests are inexplicably tied to the region and India is an important partner of the US, in the Indo-Pacific. "I am confident the USNS Matthew Perry's maintenance and repair works in India will further strengthen our bond. Our shipping industries positively contribute to a free and open Indo-Pacific by partnering to deliver effective, efficient and economical repair of military vessels" 

In August 2022, USNS Charles Drew became the first-ever American ship to undergo repair and maintenance in India. The Charles Drew and Matthew Perry are part of the United States Military Sealift Command and are Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ships. 

In February 2023, India's Government-run defence and aerospace firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited(HAL) said it’ll soon be performing maintenance and repairs on the engines of the American-origin MQ-9B drones. 

The General Atomics MQ-9B High-altitude Long endurance (HALE) drones are currently in use by the Indian Navy for Maritime Surveillance requirements. While the Indian Navy uses drones that are leased from General Atomics, there are proposals to purchase 30 MQ-9B drones, 10 each for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The Maintenance, repair, and overhaul of these drone engines at the HAL Engine division in Bengaluru gains significance, given that talks are on for purchasing these drones for India's strategic use.

“HAL has been manufacturing and providing MRO support for TPE 331-5 engines for the last 40 years. We are also establishing facilities for manufacturing TPE 331-12B engines for HTT-40 (Hindustan Turbo trainer) project. The engine used on the MQ-9B Remotely piloted aircraft systemRPAS) belongs to the same family of engines with upgraded configuration to adapt to the RPAS technology" C.B. Ananthakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director, of HAL, had said. 

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