India to acquire 31 Predator Drones from US

India is all set to acquire 31 Predator Drones from the United States. These drones would be operated jointly by the tri-services - the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. A Defence official said that the decision to acquire these drones was taken after a scientific assessment. These drones will improve India’s surveillance capabilities on land, sea and air.

The MQ9 Reaper Drone is manufactured by General Atomics. It is also known as Predator-B Drones. It is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations primarily for use by the US Air Force. These drones are remotely piloted and are the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long endurance, and high altitude surveillance. It is a larger, heavier and more capable aircraft in modern warfare. The sea guardian variant of this drone is operated by the naval forces of India and US for surveillance in the South China Sea region and the Indo-Pacific.

The Reaper has a 950 shaft horsepower (712 KW) turboprop engine (compared to Predator’s 115 hp 86 KW piston engine). The greater power allows the Reaper to carry 15 times more ordnance payload and cruise at about three times the speed of MQ-1. The aircraft is monitored and controlled by aircrew in the Ground Control Station (GCS), including weapon deployment. The average cost is estimated to be USD 30 million.

Predator Drones to be operated by joint tri-services command

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first trip to the US, an agreement to buy 31 Predator drones is anticipated to be signed between India and the US. India shares a vast maritime land boundary with two major adversaries Pakistan and China. So it requires constant surveillance and monitoring of the activities of Pakistan and China to safeguard its national security interests. These drones will be operated by officers from the three services jointly and the proposal in this regard to the Defence Acquisition Council was also sent by the tri-services headquarters.

Officers from the three services conducted a thorough analysis to determine the amount of long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). According to a Defence official, CDS Anil Chauhan, and his integrated Defence staff team's study indicated that India will need at least 16 drones and that all future acquisitions would be made in the same way. These drones can be used for focused monitoring of any particular place or area of interest and can fly for up to 36 hours straight. Indian staff would soon receive training from US officials on how to handle the bird and the ground station machinery.