: India in advanced stage of talks with US for procurement of MQ-9B drones #IndiaNEWS #National New Delhi: India is in an advanced stage of negotiations with the US to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed

India in advanced stage of talks with US for procurement of MQ-9B drones #IndiaNEWS #National
New Delhi: India is in an advanced stage of negotiations with the US to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones at a cost of over USD 3 billion to crank up its overall surveillance apparatus along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and in the Indian Ocean, people familiar with the development said Sunday.
The long-endurance-hunter-killer drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, over-the-horizon targeting and hitting stationary ground targets.
The MQ-9B drone is a variant of MQ-9 Reaper that was reportedly used to fire a modified version of the Hellfire missile which eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul last month.
Authoritative sources in the defence establishment said talks between New Delhi and Washington are underway for the government-to-government procurement of the drones manufactured by US defence major General Atomics, and rejected reports that the deal is off the table.
Dr Vivek Lall, the Chief Executive for the General Atomics Global Corporation, told PTI that the acquisition programme is at an advanced stage of discussions between the two governments.
We understand that the MQ-9B acquisition programme is at an advanced stage of discussion between the US and Indian governments, he said.
Any questions on those discussions should be addressed specifically to the respective governments. From a company perspective, General Atomics is ready to support India and values our longtime relationship, Lall added.
The sources said the talks are focused on sorting out certain issues relating to cost component, weapons package and technology sharing.
It is learnt that the procurement proposal figured in the fourth two-plus-two foreign and defence ministerial dialogue between India and the US in Washington in April.
In 2020, the Indian Navy had taken on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for a period of one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean. The lease period has been extended subsequently.
The Indian Navy has been bolstering its surveillance mechanism to monitor growing Chinese activities including frequent forays by PLA warships in the Indian Ocean Region.
When asked about the two drones, Lall said they have performed very well and flew close to 3,000 hours in support of the Indian Navys maritime and land border patrol objectives.
General Atomics has supported India over the past three years by providing two MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft as part of a company owned/company operated (COCO) lease agreement, he said.
Over the past six months, close to 3,000 hours have been flown in support of the Indian Navys maritime and land border patrol objectives, covering over 14 million square miles of operating area, he said.