WASHINGTON: With the U.S. and India agreeing to explore the joint development of India's next-generation aircraft carrier, a leading think tank has suggested US offer India latest technology to help increase Indian Navy's combat power.

"While the Indian Navy has already begun design work, wide-ranging cooperation with the United States has enormous potential," Ashley J Tellis, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace suggested. "Such collaboration would increase the Indian Navy's combat power and would resonate throughout the Asian continent to India's strategic advantage," he wrote in a new report.

"The most valuable US contributions are likely to materialise in the fight, possibly in the move, and hopefully in the integrate functions," Tellis wrote.

Specifically, he suggested that the US explore the possibility of equipping India's carrier with the electromagnetic aircraft launch system.

It should also offer India access to various advanced aviation systems, such as the US Navy's E-2C/D Hawkeye for airborne early warning and battle management and the fifth-generation F-35C Lightning strike fighter, Tellis wrote.

This would help the Indian Navy to secure a combat advantage over its rivals' air wings, said the Indian-American expert who worked as a key adviser to the Bush administration on the landmark India-US nuclear deal.
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Source: IANS