India, US sign $4 bn weaponised Predator drone deal; 14 things to know

October 15, 2024, became a historic day for India as it inked a nearly $4 billion deal with the United States for the procurement of 31 weaponised MQ-9B Predator drones from American defence major General Atomics under the foreign military sales route. This contract will help boost India’s military combat prowess along the contested borders with China.

The deal was signed in presence of top defence and strategic brass of India in New Delhi and marks a significant upswing in military ties between the two countries, a report by PTI quoted officials as saying.

Vivek Lall, the Chief Executive of General Atomics Global Corporation, who played a key role in the negotiations on the deal, was present at the signing ceremony.

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In June last year, the Ministry of Defence approved the procurement of the MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the US under a government-to-government framework.

The deal will enhance the surveillance capabilities of the Indian armed forces.

 14 things about India, US weaponised Predator drone deal 

1 - The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), On October 9, approved the acquisition of 31 long-range armed drones.  

2 - Of these, 15 Sea Guardians will be allocated to the Indian Navy, while the Air Force and the Army will each get eight Sky Guardians. They will add to the two that are already on lease by the Indian Navy.

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3 - The MQ-9B contract is India’s second-largest deal with the US after the induction of 11 C-17 Globemaster-III strategic-airlift aircraft by IAF at a cost of around $4.5 billion.  

4 - The 31 remotely-piloted aircraft systems will be equipped with four Hellfire missiles, 450 kgs of GBU-39B precision-guided glide bombs, navigation systems, sensor suites and mobile ground control systems.

5 - A report by ToI quoted a defence ministry official as saying that the delivery of MQ-9B ‘hunter-killer’ high-altitude, long-endurance drones will commence in about four years and be completed in six years.  

6 - The defence ministry official further said, “There will be performance-based logistics (PBL) for the MQ-9Bs through the depot-level MRO for eight years or 1.5 lakh flying hours, whichever is earlier."  

7 - India’s military capabilities in undertaking long-range strategic ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) missions will be enhanced with the induction of MQ-9B drones.  

8 - The drones will add more teeth to the Indian armed forces and help them carry out precision strikes against high-value targets, especially in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) where China has been rapidly expanding naval presence and turnaround facilities.

9 - The Indian government has been planning 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.

10 - The MQ-9B drones are designed to fly for almost 40 hours at altitudes over 40,000-feet.  

11 - These drones are considered to be far better than China’s existing armed drones like Cai Hong-4 and Wing Loong-II, which it also supplies to Pakistan.

12 - The MQ-9Bs are controlled by satellites.

13 - Only some NATO countries and close military allies of the US have the Predator or Reaper drones.  

14 - The MQ-9B drone is a variant of the MQ-9 “Reaper” which was used to launch a modified version of the Hellfire missile that eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul in July 2022.

There will be no transfer of technology (ToT) in the MQ-9B deal, however, General Atomics will provide expertise and consultancy to  Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and others to develop such heavy-duty drones capable of firing missiles and precision-guided munitions on enemy targets.