India in Advanced Stage of Talks with the US for Procurement of MQ-9B Drones: Report
New Delhi: A man familiar with the defense development of India, Sunday, said “India is in an advanced stage of negotiations with the US to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones at a cost of over $3 billion to crank up its overall surveillance apparatus along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and in the Indian Ocean,”
The long-endurance-hunter-killer drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, over-the-horizon targeting, and hitting stationary ground targets.
The MQ-9 can also employ up to eight laser-guided missiles, Air-to-Ground Missile-114 Hellfire, which possesses highly accurate, low-collateral damage, anti-armor, and anti-personnel engagement capabilities. The remotely piloted aircraft can be disassembled and loaded into a single container for deployment worldwide.
Featuring unmatched operational flexibility, MQ-9A has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS, can operate up to 50,000 feet, and has a 3,850 pound (1746 kilogram) payload capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1361 kilograms) of external stores.
The MQ-9B drone is a variant of the MQ-9 “Reaper” that was reportedly used to fire a modified version of the Hellfire missile which eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul last month.
According to the sources, talks between New Delhi and Washington are underway for the government-to-government procurement of the drones manufactured by US defense major General Atomics and rejected reports that the deal is off the table.
(Vinayak)
