US to provide consultancy to India to build UAVs under $3 bn drone deal

India and the US have been holding discussions for the MQ-9B Predator drone deal for the last few years, under which the three services will get the 31 drones

As part of the $3.1 billion 31 MQ-9B Predator drone deal between India and the US, American side is proposing to provide consultancy to Indian entities for developing an indigenous advanced unmanned aerial vehicle.

India and the US have been holding discussions for the drone deal for the last few years, under which the three services will get the 31 drones, with the Navy getting 15 birds and the Air Force and Army and Air Force getting two each.

The American offer to provide consultancy to Indian entities for developing an advanced Indian drone as part of the project is expected to be taken up for discussion and clearance at the Defence Acquisition Council meeting scheduled to be held on Monday, defence sources told ANI.

This would be the first meeting of the DAC under Narendra Modi 3.0 and is expected to provide boost to the indigenization process in defence sector under Rajnath Singh.

Sources said that the consultancy is expected to cut down the time taken for development of a highly advanced drone by a significant margin.

The MQ-9B drones are planned to be deployed at four places, including INS Rajaji near Chennai and Porbandar in Gujarat, by the Indian Navy, while the other two services will keep them jointly at two bases in Sarsawa and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh at Air Force bases due to long runway requirements.

The American firm involved in the government-to-government deal is General Atomics, whose officials held discussions with Indian side in the last few weeks in this regard, the sources said.Sarsawa and Gorakhpur as bases will help in boosting military surveillance capabilities all along the Line of Actual Control with China, from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

The drone deal is being done at the tri-service level, with the Indian Navy leading the negotiations for it with the American side.

The MQ-9B drones require a significant runway length for take off and landing which are available with the Indian Air Force. As per the drone deal with the US, 31 MQ-9B drones are being acquired of which 15 would be for coverage of the maritime zone and would be deployed by the Indian Navy.

The IAF and the Army will have eight each of these highly capable long endurance drones and would be able to cover almost all the areas of interest along the LAC with support from other existing assets.

The American side has given its letter of acceptance to the Indian side at a price tag of around $4 billion but India is not planning to take the entire package and the cost for it would be lower than that.

With a flight time of over 36 hours at heights over 40,000 feet, the drones can be armed with Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and smart bombs, this fighter-sized drone specializes in(intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) missions.

The Predator drones are expected to significantly enhance India's ability to conduct unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols, particularly in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and along its land borders with China and Pakistan.

MQ-9B has proven to be a critical asset in safeguarding India's security interests, as it was used to extensively to monitor anti-piracy operations from naval headquarters to get a clear picture of the actions taking place almost 3,000 km from Indian shores.