Official sources said on Tuesday that India is set to finalize a long-considered proposal to buy 30 multi-mission armed predator drones from the US for the three services, with an estimated cost of USD 3 billion (approx. 22,000 crores).
The proposal to acquire MQ-9B long-endurance drones equipped with air-to-surface missiles is likely to be cleared by the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) in the next few weeks, after which it will be placed before the PM- he said that headed the Cabinet Committee on Security. Sources said various key aspects of the procurement, including the cost component and weapons package, have already been finalized and the mega-deal with the US is set to be sealed by the current financial year.
The Vice Chief of the Indian Navy, the Vice Admiral, said that the proposal would be placed before the DAC in a “short time”. “The whole effort of the procurement process is that we take a very balanced decision and hence the inputs of all the stakeholders are taken. The process is on and we have progressed quite a bit on this process. It will move to the DAC in a while,” He told reporters at an event. The procurement proposal has been moved by the Indian Navy and 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 predator-killer UAV designed for long-endurance and high-altitude surveillance.
The 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 .
In 2019, the US approved the sale of armed drones to India and even offered integrated air and missile defense systems. The Indian Navy is pushing for procurement to boost its overall surveillance over the Indian Ocean, an area that has seen increasing incursions by Chinese ships and submarines in the past few years.
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 signed a USD 2.6 billion deal with the US for the purchase of 24 MH-60 Romeo helicopters from US aerospace major Lockheed Martin for the Indian Navy. The deliveries of the helicopters have already started.
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