TOI 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. The company says the initial order is limited, but Velicovich has said its longer-term ambition is to combine American and Pakistani technology and potentially establish manufacturing in Pakistan.“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. It sets a framework for potential expanded cooperation in unmanned and autonomous systems, subject to definitive agreements and government approvals,” the company said in a September 17 announcement.“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. Powerus owns 51% of the venture, while G1 contributed intellectual property covering seven fully developed products and other systems under development.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. and Eric Trump are reported to be investors in Aureus through American Ventures; regulatory filings have indicated an indirect stake of about 9.9% 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. Others view it as Pakistan — which is heavily dependent on China for major weapons imports — diversifying its suppliers.Indeed, the most intriguing aspect of the Pakistan deal is that Powerus had already entered the Indian defence market. In June, Powerus subsidiary Tandem Defense was reported to have granted Mumbai-based Paras Defence and Space Technologies exclusive licence to manufacture and commercialise the Guardian-1 counter-drone interceptor in India. So effectively, the same American company is now pursuing defence cooperation with both India and Pakistan, which fought a short war in May 2025 in which drones played a prominent role.The juxtaposition is attracting close attention in military circles in India, which has invested heavily in its strategic relationship with Washington and is viewing the transfer of advanced unmanned technology to Pakistan with concern. Of course, the US has a long history of supplying arms to rival states, and the Powerus arrangements do not by themselves demonstrate a change in policy towards India.The larger question though is whether Powerus represents something more consequential: a gradual restoration of the US-Pakistan defence relationship — which has largely been in ice over the past two decades — in a capital where institutional and congressional oversight is perceived to have broken down with opportunists having a free run.The Trump administration itself began loosening controls last December when it approved a $686 million package to modernise Pakistan’s existing F-16 fleet. The consignment included 92 Link-16 tactical data systems, cryptographic equipment, avionics, training and logistical support. The stated US rationale was “to preserve Pakistan’s interoperability with US and partner forces and support counterterrorism and future contingencies.”Powerus could empower the Pakistani military even more. Drones, counter-drone systems, communications, surveillance and electronic warfare are less politically conspicuous than supplying Pakistan with new fighter aircraft or major offensive weapons, but they are also the technologies whose importance has been demonstrated by the wars in Ukraine and the India-Pakistan conflict.
