The Ministry of Defence is preparing to acquire 30 General Atomics MQ-9A Guardian drones from the United States, in a deal valued at about $3 billion. MoD has cleared the way for the procurement of an initial lot of six Reaper Medium Altitude Long Endurance drones, out of the six, two each for the army, navy, and air force are to be procured immediately
An acceptance of necessity’ for 30 drones will be put before an upcoming meeting of the Defence Acquisition Council, headed by Rajnath Singh. The contract is being broken up into two parts—six MQ-9s worth approximately $600 million are to be purchased outright. The remaining 24 drones —will be acquired over the next three years under an ‘option clause’ in the contract.
Acceptance of Necessity is formally the first step in hardware procurement by the MoD. It usually takes several years for AON cases to turn into contracts. The MQ-9acquisition, it is understood, will be concluded in a far shorter timeframe. MoD meetings to decide on this deal are being lead by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat.
The MQ-9 can carry electro-optical / infra-red multi-mode radar and multi-mode maritime surveillance radar, laser designators, electronic support measures, and various weapons packages. “The MQ-9 is satellite-steered, can float above the target at 45,000 feet and stay on task for 35 hours, using radar and electronic support measures to locate the enemy—it could be anywhere, the Gulf of Aden or the Malacca Straits or in Eastern Ladakh,” a senior defence official says.
The United States has emerged as India’s largest supplier of defence hardware after Russia, selling India a total of $18 billion worth of military hardware since 2008. In February this year, the two countries concluded a 2.1 billion dollar deal for India to buy 24 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Indian Navy.