 "India, US to ink deal for 31 MQ-9B drones: Why New Delhi needs these UAVs")
The long wait is finally over. Today, on October 15, India and the United States will sign a multi-billion dollar deal for the purchase of 31 MQ-9B drones.
The move comes after the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the purchases last week and will now see 15 of these unmanned aerial vehicles going to the Indian Navy while the rest will be equally divided between the Army and the Air Force.
It was back in February that the US approved the sale of 31 MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and related equipment to India at an estimated cost of $3.99 billion (Rs 33,060 crore).
An Economic Times report said that a team of American representatives were in India to finalise the deal. Moreover, important defense officials, including the Joint Secretary and Acquisition Manager for naval systems, will attend the signing ceremony.
But what are these MQ-9B drones? And how will they be beneficial to India?
But what exactly are the MQ-9B drones and why is India eyeing them?
The ‘hunter-killer drones
The MQ-9B drone, manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, is the first hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed for long-endurance and high-altitude surveillance. The drones are 11 metres long and have a wingspan of over 22 metres. They boast of an endurance of over 27 hours and can operate up to 50,000 feet. Moreover, they have a 240 Knots True Airspeed (KTAS) and a 1,746 kg payload capacity, including 1,361 kg of external stores.
The drone is equipped to carry multiple mission payloads including Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Lynx multi-mode Radar, multi-mode maritime surveillance radar, Electronic Support Measures (ESM), laser designators, and various weapons and payload packages.
The UAV is remotely operated by a two-member crew, comprising the pilot and an aircrew member to operate the sensors and weapons.
As per the US Air Force, the Reaper is capable of employing “eight laser-guided missiles, air-to-ground missile-114 Hellfire, which possess highly accurate, low-collateral damage, anti-armour and anti-personnel engagement capabilities.”
The predecessor of Reaper, the Predator, came to be known for its use during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where it caused a high number of civilian casualties in “precision strikes”, notes The Guardian. The RQ-1/MQ-1Predator was retired by the US Air Force in 2017, with Reaper becoming the force’s primary unmanned aircraft.
Today, the MQ-9B drones are in use by the US forces, Nasa, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force and the Spanish Air Force. Japan also inducted the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones in April 2023.
Notably, Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020, which was believed to have been conducted by an MQ-9 Reaper drone. Another version of this drone, the MQ-9A Reaper, was used to kill Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul in 2022.
India’s long wait for MQ-9B drones
Before India showed interest in purchasing the deadly hunter-killer drones, the Indian Navy was operating two unarmed SeaGuardian drones on lease since 2020. The SeaGuardian drone is the maritime variant of the MQ-9B.
The deal has been in the works for over five years and on June 15 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) cleared the procurement of 31 MQ-9B UAVs from GA, including 15 Sea Guardians for the Indian Navy and eight Sky Guardians each for the Indian Army and Air Force through the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) route. This development came right before Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Washington in June 2023 for his first US State visit.
Following this, in September 2023, ahead of the Modi-Biden meeting in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, India issued the formal request to the US government for the drones, sending a detailed letter of request (LoR).
India hopes to induct the first 10 MQ-9B within a few years of the deal being inked, depending on GA’s production capabilities. The rest will come in batches every six months.
A game changer for India
With its long-endurance, persistent surveillance and strike capability, the MQ-9Bs can enhance the Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s Armed Forces. The US Air Force notes that the drones are primarily used as an “intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets”.
“Given its significant loiter time, wide-range sensors, multi-mode communications suite, and precision weapons, it provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination, and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets,” the USAF said.
As per Times of India, these drones can help India in long-range surveillance and strike capabilities both in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and on the land borders. Citing Indian military planners, India Today said in a report in January that armed drones can help Indian forces to “launch remote-controlled operations and surgical strikes, such as on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and engage targets on the Himalayan borders with China.”
What makes these drones even more deadly is the stealth feature they possess. The drone can fly as close to 250 metres from the ground with the target not having any knowledge of its presence. Moreover, these drones are also able to operate in any weather — a boost to India, which is looking to deploy them in the mountains bordering China.
General Atomics also points out the drone being economical. The MQ-9B can match 80 per cent of the capability of a manned patrol aircraft at about 20 per cent of its cost per hour.
An officer told Times of India that once the deal is finalised and deliveries begin, the drones will most likely be deployed at ISR command and control centres at Arakkonam and Porbandar for the Indian Ocean region and Sarsawa and Gorakhpur for the land borders. “With their long-distance hunting and killing capabilities, such drones are required at a time when China’s naval forays into the IOR are only going to increase further,” the officer told Times of India.
With inputs from agencies
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