India will approve the purchase of 30 MQ-9B Predator Drones (MQ-9B Predator drones) produced by San Diego-based General Atomics for $3 billion next month, according to officials familiar with the matter. Pictured are MQ-9 Predator drones.
The border conflict between India and China began last year, and the situation between India and Pakistan is also unstable. U.S. media reported that India plans to buy 30 armed drones from the United States to enhance its maritime and land defense capabilities against the Chinese Communist Party, as well as to deal with tensions with Pakistan.
Bloomberg reported on March 9 that India will approve the purchase of 30 MQ-9B Predator drones from San Diego-based General Atomics for $3 billion next month, according to officials familiar with the matter. The deal will increase India’s military capabilities, which are currently limited to surveillance and reconnaissance drones.
India is becoming a strategic defense partner for the United States in the fight against Communist expansion and infiltration in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has embarked on a 10-year, $250 billion military modernization program.
Spokesmen for the Indian Defense Ministry and General Atomics did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment. Pentagon officials also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Media reports say U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to visit India this month, and President Joe Biden will soon join the heads of India, Japan and Australia in a “quadrilateral” group meeting. The quadripartite meeting will be held by online video on March 12, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday local Time.
The MQ-9B Predator drone can fly for about 48 hours and carry a payload of about 1,700 kilograms (3,700 pounds). The drone will give the Indian Navy the ability to better monitor Communist Chinese warships in the southern Indian Ocean and could also be deployed to strike targets in disputed areas along the India-Pakistan border in the Himalayas.
Last year, India leased two unarmed MQ-9 Predator drones after tensions along the India-China border turned into a bloody conflict.
The MQ-9, originally code-named Predator B, was developed by General Atomics in the early 21st century as a surveillance drone and went into production shortly after its first successful flight in 2003, and is now in service with many countries around the world, including the United States. The MQ-9 is far larger and lighter than the MQ-1 UAV and has a 900-horsepower turboprop engine for faster speed and longer range. Since its deployment to Afghanistan in 2007, the MQ-9 UAV has flown many combat missions and is arguably experienced in the field.
The MQ-9B is based on the extended-range MQ-9BLOCK5 and has been improved in all aspects, with a further increase in airframe size, wingspan to 24 meters, length to 11.7 meters, and maximum takeoff weight to 5,670 kg. The MQ-9B can be equipped to carry Hellfire missiles for close air support and reconnaissance-strike missions.
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