India
India poised to ink $4 billion deal with US for 31 Predator drones in October – Times of India
NEW DELHI: India is set to sign a mega deal for 31 armed MQ-9B ‘hunter-killer’ Predator drones next month with the US, while the Ministry of Defence is now finalising the concept note for the Ministry of Finance and then seeking final approval from the Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security.
The report of the defence ministry’s contract negotiating committee has been “submitted and accepted” for the government-to-government deal for which the US had earlier quoted a price of $3.9 billion (over Rs 33,500 crore), sources told TOI. The development comes as Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit the US for the fourth physical Quad leaders’ summit in Delaware on September 21.
The contract is expected to be signed by mid-October. Costing, setting up of MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) facility in India, performance-based logistics support and other such issues have been finalised after tough negotiations,” a source said.
While the deal will not involve direct transfer of technology (ToT), the 31 remotely piloted aircraft will be assembled in India, with the drone manufacturer General Atomics make an investment in India and source over 30% of components from Indian companies. Drone manufacturer General Atomics will also provide expertise and advice to DRDO and others to develop such high-altitude, long-endurance drones indigenously.
TOI was the first to report last month that India was accelerating techno-commercial negotiations for the deal. Under the deal, 15 Sea Guardian drones are earmarked for the Navy and eight Sky Guardians each for the Army and the IAF, as both China and Pakistan are steadily expanding their fleets of armed UAVs.
The 31 MQ-9B drones are designed to fly for nearly 40 hours at an altitude of more than 40,000 feet and come with 170 Hellfire missiles, 310 GBU-39B precision-guided glide bombs, navigation systems, sensors and mobile ground control systems, among other associated equipment.
India will also equip the drones with indigenous weapons in the future, including the Short Range Anti-Ship Missiles (NASM-SR) being developed by DRDO.
Besides long-range strategic ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) missions and over-the-horizon targeting, the drones can conduct anti-warship and anti-submarine warfare operations. This becomes crucial in the backdrop of the Chinese Navy’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), with its submarines posing a major strategic challenge to India in the post-border maritime domain.
The report of the defence ministry’s contract negotiating committee has been “submitted and accepted” for the government-to-government deal for which the US had earlier quoted a price of $3.9 billion (over Rs 33,500 crore), sources told TOI. The development comes as Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit the US for the fourth physical Quad leaders’ summit in Delaware on September 21.
The contract is expected to be signed by mid-October. Costing, setting up of MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) facility in India, performance-based logistics support and other such issues have been finalised after tough negotiations,” a source said.
While the deal will not involve direct transfer of technology (ToT), the 31 remotely piloted aircraft will be assembled in India, with the drone manufacturer General Atomics make an investment in India and source over 30% of components from Indian companies. Drone manufacturer General Atomics will also provide expertise and advice to DRDO and others to develop such high-altitude, long-endurance drones indigenously.
TOI was the first to report last month that India was accelerating techno-commercial negotiations for the deal. Under the deal, 15 Sea Guardian drones are earmarked for the Navy and eight Sky Guardians each for the Army and the IAF, as both China and Pakistan are steadily expanding their fleets of armed UAVs.
The 31 MQ-9B drones are designed to fly for nearly 40 hours at an altitude of more than 40,000 feet and come with 170 Hellfire missiles, 310 GBU-39B precision-guided glide bombs, navigation systems, sensors and mobile ground control systems, among other associated equipment.
India will also equip the drones with indigenous weapons in the future, including the Short Range Anti-Ship Missiles (NASM-SR) being developed by DRDO.
Besides long-range strategic ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) missions and over-the-horizon targeting, the drones can conduct anti-warship and anti-submarine warfare operations. This becomes crucial in the backdrop of the Chinese Navy’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), with its submarines posing a major strategic challenge to India in the post-border maritime domain.
