India inks mega deal with US for 'hunter-killer' MQ-9B 'predator' drones

NEW DELHI: By 2029, India will have enough satellite-controlled versatile `birds’ for long-range reconnaissance missions over land and sea, and then destroy selected targets with precision, in a major boost for the country’s unmanned warfare capabilities.

India inked the Rs 28,000 crore ($3.3 billion) contract with the US govt for the 31 “birds” or weaponized MQ-9B `Predator’ remotely-piloted aircraft, along with another Rs 4,350 crore ($520 million) deal with drone-manufacturer General Atomics to set up a MRO facility here, in South Block on Tuesday.

“Under the deal, the first MQ-9B high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) drone will be inducted by Jan 2029, with all the 31 being delivered in batches by Oct 2030. The `birds’ will provide a quantum jump in the ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capabilities of our armed forces,” an official told TOI.

The two such unarmed drones taken on lease from General Atomics since Sept 2020 – one of them crashed in Sept -- have certainly helped India keep close track of the increasing presence of Chinese warships and spy vessels in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as well as the People’s Liberation Army’s build-up along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control.

“DRDO, unfortunately, has not been able to develop such long-range `hunter-killer’ drones, which are also capable of anti-submarine warfare, till now. We especially need them for the IOR,” the official added.

Consequently, 15 MQ-9B Sea Guardians are earmarked for the Navy, while the Army and IAF will get eight Sky Guardians each, all armed with Hellfire missiles, GBU-39B precision-guided glide bombs and other weapons.

The official brushed aside criticism about the “high costs” involved as well as that Predator or Reaper drones have performed effectively only in places like Afghanistan where there was no hostile air force or advanced surface-to-air (SAM) missile systems. “The MQ-9Bs we will get are the latest variant capable of launching their weapons from long stand-off distances,” he said.

The MQ-9Bs certainly have long endurance. The fighter-sized drones can fly for 30-40 hours at a stretch, depending on the configuration, at altitudes of 40,000-50,000 feet. They are considered far superior to China’s existing armed drones like Cai Hong-4 and Wing Loong-II, which are also being supplied to Pakistan.

Apart from “assembling” 21 of the 31 MQ-9Bs in India, General Atomics will provide performance-based logistics (PBL) for the drones through the depot-level MRO facility for eight years or 1.5 lakh flying hours.

Though there will be no transfer of technology, the company will provide expertise and consultancy to DRDO and others to develop such HALE drones. India plans to deploy the MQ-9B drones at ISR command and control centres at Arakkonam and Porbandar for the IOR and Sarsawa and Gorakhpur for the land borders.

The MQ-9B contract takes the collective worth of lucrative Indian defence deals bagged by the US to over $25 billion just since 2007. It is the second largest deal that India has inked with the US after the induction of 11 C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft by IAF for around $4.5 billion. The Navy, in turn, has inducted 12 P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft from the US for $3.2 billion.