India to acquire 31 drones from US worth over $3 billion

India’s acquisition of 31 high altitude long endurance (HALE) drones from the US will be a phased exercise involving initial absorption of technology, people familiar with the matter said.

The first batch of 10 drones was without weapons, and the creation of three tri-service intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance command centres, one in the south and two in the north with a specific focus on India’s northern boundaries, especially the one with China, The Hindustan Times reports.

On June 15, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved a tri-service proposal to acquire a total of 31 drones, 15 MQ9B Sea Guardians and 16 Sky Guardian drones from the US. The Sea Guardian drones will be responsible for maritime surveillance and domain awareness while the Sky Guardian drones will be used for guarding the land frontiers. The acquisition, worth over $3 billion, through US foreign military sales, or the government-to-government route will get a green light during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US this week.

While both India and US are poised to take an orbital leap in bilateral ties, the first consignment of drones will be limited to 10 in number with weapons and missiles following at a later stage. However, all the drones will have hard points or the capability to carry missiles and laser-guided bombs, the people familiar with the matter said.

The Narendra Modi government will not buy all the drones and the weapons off the shelf, with the deal will having an element of localization in the package, through which Indian-built munition can also be fitted onto the drones. HT learns that the acquisition of missiles and bombs for the drones will be step two of the whole deal as not all of the drones need to be armed. It is also possible that not all drones will be made in the US, the people added, asking not to be named.

India operates two Sea Guardian drones on lease from manufacturer General Atomics from INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu, and the military has firsthand experience of handling a HALE drone with 40-hour endurance. The Indian Navy is satisfied with the performance of leased drones, which provide real-time maritime domain awareness from Southeast Asia to Africa.

Both Sea Guardian and Sky Guardian can conduct over-the-horizon targeting, anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, airborne mine countermeasures, long-range strategic surveillance, electronic warfare, defensive counter air, airborne early warning and can also help in law enforcement, humanitarian disaster relief along with search and rescue missions.

All the 31 drones will be operating under a tri-service command and will not be equally distributed, the people said. The three operational centres will define the mission-specific roles under the guidance of the future theatre commanders and the permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee.