US-Pakistan drone deal sparks concern in Indian defence circlesTOI correspondent from Washington: An obscure American defence start-up has suddenly acquired an outsized geopolitical significance after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan army and securing an initial order for unmanned aerial systems, raising questions in Indian strategic circles over whether the deal could be an indicator of a wider reopening of US military supplies to Pakistan. Powerus, a Florida-based company barely a year old, signed the agreement during a September visit to Pakistan led by its president and co-founder Brett Velicovich, a former US army special operations intelligence analyst.

“Powerus has received a limited procurement order from the ministry of defence of Pakistan for unmanned aerial systems and associated support. The order represents an expansion of our international defense business.

We have also signed a strategic mou. “We are proud to support Pakistan’s Ministry of Defence, and the memorandum gives both sides a strategic framework to build upon.”

Velicovich added. The Pakistan deal is particularly notable because Powerus has access to Ukrainian defence technology developed during the war with Russia.

In March, it established Powerus USA, in partnership with Wyoming-based G1 Exploration, to commercialise Ukrainian autonomous defence systems. aThe partnership produced the Guardian family of counter-drone interceptors, designed to destroy hostile unmanned aircraft.

Powerus says Guardian has been developed with Ukrainian technology and battlefield experience, which have received rave notices in the US. This creates an unusual – and in Indian eyes an unprecedented – chain: Ukrainian drone technology, brought into a US defence company, is now potentially being transferred to Pakistan, a country whose military has been rapidly expanding its own drone capabilities.

The political sensitivity is heightened by Powerus's links to the Trump family. Powerus completed its merger with Nasdaq-listed Aureus Greenway Holdings on October 1 and now trades as Powerus Corporation under the symbol PUSA.

Donald Trump Jr. 9% in the combined company.

Ironically, the deal has also caused unease in some Pakistani circles because of Powerus’ Israeli links, with one of its co-founders reported to be former IDF officer Ziv Marom. Some analysts are questioning why Pakistan, which already builds its own drones and buys others from China and Turkiye, a company that was founded only last year and sells drones to India too.