Called the MQ-9B, the drones are adapted for operations over sea and over land

Ajay Banerjee

The Ministry of Defence on Tuesday inked a contract with the US Government for procurement of 31 armed drones.

Called the MQ-9B, the drones are adapted for operations over sea and over land. These fall in the category of ‘high altitude long endurance (HALE)’ drones. The US armed forces use the same MQ-9B platform and it carries missiles to do precision strikes at targets.

The contract was signed with General Atomics Global India Pvt Ltd for logistics of these drones. Certain types of maintenance, repair and overhaul of these drones will be done in India. The deal will cost $4 billion (approx Rs 34,500 crore).

The Indian armed forces will start getting the drones over four years. The Indian Navy will get 15 of the 31 drones while the Army and the IAF will get eight drones each.

The Cabinet on Committee Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting on October 9, okayed the 31 armed drones from the US.

The CCS also okayed the acquisition of 31 drones under a Foreign Military Sales contract between the two governments.

These drones can fly up to 40 hours at a stretch. These can be armed with precision strike missiles which can hit targets at sea, on land and in air. These can provide surveillance with real-time imagery and videos.