Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, as a part of his ongoing tour to the US, visited the William B Morgan Large Cavitation Channel (LCC) in the Naval Surface Warfare Centre (NSWC) at Memphis, Tennessee, Defence Ministry said here on Sunday.

Giving details, officials said the LCC is one of the world's largest and most technically-advanced water tunnel facility for testing submarines, torpedoes, naval surface ships and propellers.

The Defence Minister was briefed at the facility and he witnessed an actual tunnel experiment.

He was accompanied by Ambassador of India to US, Director General, Naval Operations from the Indian Navy and DRDO Defence Technology Counsellor, among others. He was received by the US Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy for Policy, and briefed by Commander and Technical Director of the NSWC.

The discussions also intend to support the ongoing proposal for establishment of similar facility for indigenous design and development in India.

Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh interacted with the senior leadership of US defence companies in Washington DC in an industry round-table organised by US India Strategic Partnership Forum.

He outlined the various emerging co-development and co-production opportunities in the defence sector in India. The progressive reforms undertaken by the Government of India have encouraged many foreign Original Equipment Manufacturers, including from the US, to set up manufacturing units in India, develop Joint Ventures, and also to make India their alternate export base. The planned co-production of GE 414 aero-engines in India shall be a significant milestone in India-US bilateral relations.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh highlighted that 'Partnership' and ‘Joint Efforts’ are the two keywords that differentiate India's defence industry partnership with other nations.

The event saw the attendance of senior leadership from prominent US defence and technology companies such as Boeing, GE,  General Atomics, General Dynamics Land Systems, L3 Harris, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Technologies,  Rolls Royce, and ThayerMahan.

In addition, few Indian companies such as ideaForge, Tata Sons and Tsecond, along with senior leaders from The Cohen Group attended the interaction with him.

During the interaction, the business leaders briefly outlined their ongoing projects and future plans for India, and provided valuable feedback.