India is one step closer to the success of the MQ-9B UAV (Unmanned Ariel Vehicle) deal with the U.S. after the recent amendments were approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DCA).
Under this deal, India is buying 31 MQ-9B UAVs from the U.S. Out of which 15 Sea Guardians UAVs are for the Indian Navy, 8 Sky Guardians UAVs for the Indian Air Force, and 8 Sky Guardians UAVs for the Indian Army for $3.99 billion. As a part of the deal, the American energy and defense corporation company General Atomics also going to establish a Global Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul facility in India.
This facility will create more employment opportunities for people. DCA is also focusing on making more and more parts of these UAVs in India. Along with it, MQ-9B UAVs will also be equipped with ALNS (Advance Land Navigation System) and this equipment will be procured from Bharat Electronics Limited
MQ-9B, also known as Predator B weighs 5,670 kg with a fuel capacity of 2,721 kg. It can carry a weight of 2,177 kg. It can be controlled by two pilots in ground stations. It can carry powerful missiles such as Laser Guided Missiles, Anti-Tank Missiles, and Anti-Ship Missiles.
MQ-9B was also used for the assassination of Iranian Major General ‘Qasem Soleimani’ near Baghdad International Airport.
How MQ-9B will be helpful for India
- Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
- Law Enforcement
- Defensive Counter Air
- Border Enforcement
- Airborne Early Warning
- Search and Rescue
- Electronic Warfare
- Anti-Submarine Warfare
- Anti-Surface Warfare
- Airborne Mine Counter Measures
- Over-the-Horizon Targeting
Top 10 Military UAVs In The World
- MQ-9B/ Predator B (USA)
- Bayraktar Kizilema (Turkey)
- B.A.E. Systems Taranis (UK)
- MQ-20 Avenger (USA)
- MQ-25 Stingray (USA)
- EADS Baracuda (Spain and German)
- TAI Aksungur (Turkey)
- Heron (Israel)
- MQ-28 Ghost Bat (Australia)
- XQ-58 Valkyrie (USA)
Type of UAVs Indian Armed Forces Using Currently
- DRDO Ghatak
- DRDO Netra
- RUAV 200
- DRDO Rustom
- TAPAS-BH-201
- DRDO Imperial Eagle
- DRDO Kapothaka
- DRDO Lakshya
- DRDO Nishant
- DRDO Ulka
- PAWAN UAV
These unmanned aerial vehicles play a major role in saving the lives of fighter pilots because UAVs are remote-controlled and can be used for long-range targets. These are accurate and play a vital role in war zones. The best example of military UAVs was seen in the Armenia and Azerbaijan war. Where we have seen extensive use of Kamikaze drones (Israel) and Bayraktar TBR (Turkey) drones by Azerbaijan, which made Azerbaijan win the war in just 44 days.
This clearly shows that in the 21st century, militaries should use technology as much as they can to save the lives of their soldiers and it can also be a decisive factor in external aggression.
India shares a border with non-peaceful countries such as China and Pakistan, where we see a lot of aggression, cross-border firing, and terrorist attacks which can be decreased once drone surveillance is increased.
The U.S. has completed its end of the process with the letter of offer and acceptance to India delivered in March. Amendments are going on and we will soon receive 31 MQ-9B UAVs in India.
As India and the U.S. both working together to deepen the relationship between both countries. It is not wrong to say that we will sooner see more U.S. defense equipment in India. Today, 70% of India’s defense equipment is Russian and the U.S. wants India to decrease this dependency on Russia.
The major reason why India chose to import Russian defense equipment is the cheaper price. U.S.-made and European-made defense equipment is more accurate but they are more costly as well and they also don’t sell their best-in-class defense equipment to other countries.
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