A shocking and sensitive development has emerged in the corridors of international geopolitics and defense trade, which has set strategic experts on edge. Powerus, a fledgling defense tech company financially linked to US President Donald Trump's family, has started trading in modern military drones with India and Pakistan—both traditional rivals. Pakistan's Defense Ministry has issued a formal purchase order with American firm Powers to purchase state-of-the-art Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and related technical support and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between the two parties in this regard. The most controversial and intriguing thing about this deal is that just three months before signing this defense deal with Pakistan, the same American company Powers had signed a big strategic agreement with India's reputed defense manufacturing company Paras Defense and Space Technologies. Under that agreement, Powers was granted a special exclusive license to indigenously manufacture its much talked about 'Guardian-1' interceptor drone in India and sell it to the Indian Armed Forces. Now the question is arising that how can the same company which is providing counter-drone and interceptor technology in India, provide surveillance and attack drone technology to the Pakistan Army across the border. Trump's sons' investment and Florida headquarters: Powers company surrounded by controversies Powers is a very new defense equipment manufacturing company, which was established in the year 2025 and its main corporate headquarters is located in Florida, USA. The ownership and financial structure of this company is making the most headlines because both the prominent sons of US President Donald Trump—Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump—are associated with it as major financial investors. However, after the international controversy over the defense deal deepened, the company management has issued a clarification on its part saying that the Trump brothers are only passive financial investors and they are not directly involved in the company's daily operations, technical decisions of the board or the implementation of strategic deals. Despite this, there is a heated discussion in diplomatic circles whether the political influence of the White House is being used to create a parallel arms market in South Asia. The company shared official photos of its high-level meeting with Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on social media platform 'X' and wrote that Powers has received the first limited purchase order of drone systems and technical support from the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The company claims that the order is a normal business step towards expanding international defense trade, but it is being viewed with suspicion from New Delhi to Washington. Israeli connection and the paradox of Pakistan: The country is buying weapons from its former soldier whom it does not recognize. Another very surprising and contradictory aspect of this entire defense deal is its Israeli connection. Ziv Marom, co-founder of the powerful company, is a former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier and defense technology expert. It is a well-known fact that Pakistan does not officially recognize Israel as a sovereign nation and the two countries do not have any diplomatic relations. Anti-Israelism has always been a major emotional and religious issue in Pakistan's domestic politics. In such a situation, the purchase of drone technology by the Pakistani Army from a company co-founded by a former Israeli military officer completely exposes Islamabad's diplomatic duplicity. Military analysts are also surprised by the fact that Pakistan already has armed drones like 'Shahpar-II' which are being developed indigenously. Apart from this, Pakistan has been purchasing advanced combat drones like Wing Loong from its evergreen friend China and Bayraktar TB-2 and Akinci from Turkey for a long time. Despite all these options being available, the decision to buy weapons from a fledgling firm with an American-Israeli background proves that there is a hidden geopolitical equation at work behind it, more than purely military needs. Defense need or a game of political expediency? Experts' opinion on relations between Asim Munir and Trump administration International affairs and defense experts believe that Pakistan already has sufficient capability at the basic level of drone technology through Chinese and Turkish platforms. Some experts have analyzed that the Pakistani Army is in dire need of more advanced American chipsets, secure data-links, system-level integration and electronic capabilities to deal with electronic warfare than hardware, in which Western companies are considered to be at the forefront in the world. Through Powers, the Pakistani Army is again trying to infiltrate the American technology ecosystem. On the other hand, a large diplomatic section is considering it more as a deliberate 'political lobbying' and diplomatic gesture than a defense purchase. This could be an indirect attempt to improve relations between Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and the business network close to the Trump family. Since Trump came to power, Islamabad has been trying to bring its old security relations with Washington back on track. However, manufacturing anti-drone systems in India by the same American company and selling drones to Pakistan can directly prove to be a game that disturbs the strategic balance between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, on which strong objection can be lodged by the Indian government in the coming days.
