Deal For 31 MQ-9B Drones Gets Final Nod, Indian Army And Air Force To Jointly Deploy 16 At Two Bases In UP

The Cabinet Committee on Security has approved the acquisition of 31 MQ-9B  drones from American firm General Atomics.

The deal had to be approved before October 31, as the validity of the American proposal was set to expire by then. It is now expected to be signed in the coming days.

According to the contract, the defence forces will start receiving the drones over a four-year period after the deal is finalised.

Of the 31 drones, the Indian Navy will receive 15, while the Army and Indian Air Force will each get eight. The Indian Air Force and the Army are planning to jointly deploy their drones at air bases in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur and Sarsawa.

As part of the Make in India initiative, Indian-made equipment from DRDO and private-sector firm Solar Industries may be used on the drones.

The drones are expected to revolutionise peacetime surveillance along the Line of Actual Control with China and in the Indian Ocean, where the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy seeks to maintain a near-constant presence in India's near seas.

This development follows the recent incident in which an MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone, leased by the Indian Navy from the US, crashed into the Bay of Bengal near Chennai due to a technical failure. The drone had been operating from INS Rajali, a naval air station in Arakkonam, near Chennai, according to the Indian Navy.

In 2020, the Indian Navy leased two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for surveillance in the Indian Ocean. The lease period has since been extended.

The drones were reportedly acquired during heightened tensions with China following the clashes in the Galwan River Valley in June 2020.