New Delhi. 23 August 2024. In a significant step toward strengthening their defense partnership, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) and India’s Ministry of Defence (IN MoD) have entered into a bilateral, non-binding Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA). This arrangement, signed on August 22, 2024, by Dr. Vic Ramdass, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy for the US, and Samir Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisitions) for India, aims to ensure reciprocal priority support for goods and services that are essential for national defense. The SOSA is a pivotal development in the US-India Major Defense Partner relationship, enhancing cooperation in defense technology and trade initiatives’
The newly established SOSA aims to enhance the defense relationship between the US and India by ensuring reciprocal priority support for goods and services crucial for national defense. This arrangement will allow both countries to obtain necessary industrial resources from each other to address unexpected supply chain disruptions and fulfill national security requirements.
Dr. Vic Ramdass highlighted the significance of this agreement, stating, “This Security of Supply Arrangement represents a pivotal moment in the U.S.–India Major Defense Partner relationship and will be a key factor in strengthening the U.S.–India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI). I look forward to OUSD(A&S) hosting the next DTTI meeting this fall to deepen cooperation between our respective defense industrial bases and pursue bilateral co-development, co-production, and co-sustainment initiatives.”
Under the terms of the arrangement, both the US and India commit to supporting each other’s priority delivery requests for procuring critical national defense resources. The United States will provide India with assurances under the U.S. Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS), which involves program determinations by the DoD and rating authorization by the Department of Commerce (DOC). In return, India will establish a government-industry Code of Conduct with its industrial base, where Indian firms will voluntarily agree to make every reasonable effort to provide the US with priority support.
The SOSA also facilitates greater interoperability between the US and its defense trade partners, streamlining processes, and setting up communication mechanisms to proactively address supply chain issues during peacetime, emergencies, and armed conflicts. The arrangement is a strategic tool for developing investment strategies that ensure redundancy and security in global supply chains. With the signing of this agreement, India becomes the eighteenth SOSA partner of the US, joining countries like Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, and others.
Within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (OASD(IBP)), the Defense Production Act (DPA) Title I, Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP), and the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resiliency (ODASD(IBR)) are responsible for securing and maintaining SOSAs with DoD’s foreign partners. The DPA Title I efforts focus on ensuring the timely availability of critical industrial resources to support national defense requirements through the US Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS), a legally binding priority system for industrial goods and services managed by the DOC.
Through its mission, the DPA Title I program ensures that the US prioritizes the production and procurement of essential defense industrial resources needed to meet both domestic and foreign partner national security demands in today’s evolving threat environment.
The signing of the SOSA between the US and India marks a significant milestone in their defense partnership, enhancing collaboration, ensuring supply chain security, and fostering greater cooperation in defense technology and trade initiatives.
