With an eye on China and Pakistan, India fast-tracks deal for 31 'hunter-killer' drones from the US

As China and Pakistan enhance their fleets of armed drones, India is expediting talks to purchase 31 weaponized MQ-9B 'hunter-killer' drones from the US. The goal is to finalize this substantial deal by November-December this year.

Techno-commercial discussions for the inter-governmental contract for the 31 armed high-altitude, long endurance drones “are in an advanced stage now”, with 15 Sea Guardians earmarked for Navy and 8 Sky Guardians each for Army and IAF, defence ministry sources told TOI.

This comes at a time when China, which continues the military confrontation in eastern Ladakh for the fifth year running now, has stepped-up supplies of its armed Cai Hong-4 and Wing Loong-II drones to Pakistan.


“Pakistan has sought 16 more armed CH-4 drones from China. It already has seven CH-4 drones in the Army and 3 in Navy,” a TOI source said.


The MQ-9B Reaper or Predator-B drones, designed to fly for around 40 hours at altitudes over 40,000-feet for surveillance and armed with Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and smart bombs for precision strikes, are considered far superior to Chinese armed drones.

The operational utility of the MQ-9B drones has been reinforced by extensive ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) missions being undertaken by the two unarmed Sea Guardian drones -- taken on lease from US firm General Atomics -- both over the vast Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as well as along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control with China.

While the US has put a price tag of $3.9 billion (over Rs 33,500 crore) for the 31 weaponised MQ-9B drones and associated equipment, including 170 Hellfire missiles, 310 GBU-39B precision-guided glide bombs, navigation systems, sensor suites and mobile ground control systems, the Indian negotiating team is working to bring the costs down.

“The price and terms offered by the US govt and General Atomics to other countries is being taken into account. All efforts are underway to conclude the deal within this calendar year after the final nod from the cabinet committee on security,” a source told TOI.

Under the deal, the drones will be assembled in India, while General Atomics will also source some components from Indian companies as well as set up a global MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) facility.

“Since General Atomics cannot give transfer of technology for the varied sub-systems it sources from other companies, it will provide expertise and consultancy to DRDO and other entities to develop such advanced drones indigenously,” the source said.

The armed forces hope to induct the first 10 MQ-9B drones within a couple of years of the contract being inked, though it will depend on General Atomics’ production capacity. The rest will come in batches every six months.

The plan is to deploy the fighter-size drones at ISR command and control centres at Arakkonam and Porbandar for the Indian Ocean region and Sarsawa and Gorakhpur for the land borders. “With their long-distance hunting and killing capabilities, such drones are required at a time when China’s naval forays into the IOR are only going to increase further,” an officer said.

(With TOI inputs)