The Indian Navy plans to acquire a slew of unmanned aerial and underwater platforms over the next few years to significantly increase its surveillance capability in the backdrop of China’s growing efforts in the Indian Ocean region, people familiar with the development said. said on Sunday. He said the acquisition will be done as part of the roadmap on unmanned platforms, which was finalized last month at a conference of top naval commanders, in which extensive deliberations were held on the need for procuring new-age platforms .
“The roadmap highlights the need for unmanned platforms and provides a direction to meet the demand while ensuring optimum utilization of resources,” said one of the people mentioned above. While the Navy will primarily focus on acquiring unmanned platforms from within the country, it will also look at the best drones and other related systems available in the global market.
A second person said, “Surveillance in strategically important waterways will have to be boosted with development mainly in the Indian Ocean region.” The people said the main focus has been on enhancing capabilities in the areas of Long Range Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), surveillance and reconnaissance.
He added that along with the roadmap for unmanned platforms, the third aircraft carrier is designed to accommodate both fighter jets and a fleet of drones. Indian armed forces are focusing on procuring unmanned platforms, including armed drones, after the eastern Ladakh standoff with China and the drone attack on the Jammu airbase.
Explosives-laden drones were used to carry out an attack on the Jammu Air Force Station in June, the first such incident of suspected Pakistan-based terrorists deploying unmanned aerial vehicles to strike critical military installations in India . The people cited above said that the Indian Navy is also looking to procure 30 multi-mission armed Predator drones from the US, which will cost over USD 3 billion (about Rs 22,000 crore).
He said the government may clear the deal by March next year. A proposal to acquire MQ-9B long-endurance drones equipped with air-to-surface missiles is likely to be approved by the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) by next month.
Various key aspects of procurement, including cost component and weapon package, have already been finalized. Though the procurement proposal has been moved by the Indian Navy, the three services are likely to get 10 drones each.
The remotely operated drones, built by US defense chief General Atomics, are capable of being in the air for about 35 hours and can be deployed on a range of missions including surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering and destroying enemy positions . The medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) Predator-B drone is the first hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for long-endurance and high-altitude surveillance.
Last year, the Indian Navy had received two Predator drones on lease from the US primarily for surveillance over the Indian Ocean. The two non-weapon MQ-9B drones were leased for one year, with an option to extend the period by another year.
In February last year, India Inked a USD 2.6 billion deal with the United States for the purchase of 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters from US aerospace major Lockheed Martin for the Navy. The deliveries of the helicopters have already started.
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