MQ-9B Drone Deal | 18 Oct 2024

Source: HT

Recently, India signed a defence deal worth USD 3.5 billion with the US to acquire 31 MQ-9B Predator armed drones for its armed forces. General Atomics, the manufacturer of the drones, will set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India.

The deal has been conducted under the foreign military sales (FMS) system.
- FMS is the US Government’s program for transferring defence articles, services, and training to its international partners and international organisations.
It will first help India boost “deterrence by detection” enabling India to detect early adversarial advances on land and at sea, particularly from China, helping to prevent conflict.
- These high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) drones are capable of remaining airborne for over 35 hours and can carry four Hellfire missiles (short-range tactical missile) and around 450 kgs of bombs.
India-US Defence Partnership:
- The US was the 3rd largest supplier of arms to India during 2018-22 after Russia and France. Defence procurements from the US stands at almost USD 20 billion in 2023.
- Key defence agreements include the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (2016), Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (2018), Industrial Security Agreement (2019), and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (2020).