In a move to strengthen its sea and land defences amid persisting tensions with neighbours China and Pakistan, India is planning to procure 30 weaponised MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones from the United States (US), reports Mint.
According to the report, the deal amounting to $3 billion to purchase the armed drones would be approved next month by India.
The MQ-9B drones are manufactured by defence-maker General Atomics and have a a 40-hour endurance with a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet. The drone can also carry a weapon payload of over 2.5 tonne including air-to-surface missiles and laser-guided bombs, according to the report.
The move holds significance for India as it looks to upgrade its existing Israeli Heron fleet and enhance its satellite communication capability and range. It would add to India’s military capabilities as the drones it has now can only be used for surveillance and reconnaissance.
Subscribe to Swarajya on YouTube.
Get a Swarajya subscription: https://subscriptions.swarajyamag.com/join-us
Website: https://swarajyamag.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SwarajyaMag
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swarajyamag
#MQ9BDrones #PredatorDrones #GeneralAtomics #SkyGuardianDrones #Defence #NationalSecurity #LAC #SinoPakNexus
source
Start the video already
Namaskar
Happy to see Swarajya covering all types of news.
Will it share transfer of technology?
Cool, now that's it should be done. Good amount of research and well put. 👍
The background music is not necessary. It's rather annoying
These drones are very expensive at least transfer of technology should be there, each drone costs 100 million dollars