Ahead of PM-Biden meet, India formally asks for ‘killer’ drones

[PradoTLC]

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NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Modi-Biden meeting on Friday, India has issued the formal request to the US government for the mega acquisition of 31 top-notch weaponised MQ-9B Reaper or Predator-B drones, aiming to ink the final contract within this financial year.

The defence ministry sent the detailed LoR (letter of request) for the 31 ‘hunter-killer’ remotely-piloted aircraft systems, along with their weapons packages, mobile ground control systems and other equipment, “a few days ago” to the US, top sources told TOI on Thursday.

The Biden administration, in turn, will now respond with the LoA (letter of offer and acceptance), with the costing and the requisite notification to the US Congress under its foreign military sales (FMS) programme, “within a month or two”, the sources said.

The final price of the 31 drones — 15 Sea Guardians for Navy and 16 Sky Guardians for Army and IAF — will then be sealed by the two sides. The defence ministry’s initial nod on June 15 had “noted” an estimated cost of almost $3.1 billion for the deal, as was reported by TOI.

“The push is to sign the actual contract for the high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) drones within this fiscal, if not within this calendar year, after clearance from the cabinet committee on security,” a source said.

“The armed forces are keen to complete the induction of all the drones, which will be ‘assembled’ in India by manufacturer General Atomics (GA), over the next six to seven years,” he added.

Far more capable than the armed drones with China, which has also been supplying Cai Hong-4 and Wing Loong-II drones to Pakistan, the MQ-9Bs will add muscle to India’s long-range surveillance and precision strike capabilities both in the Indian Ocean Region as well as the land frontiers with China and Pakistan.The LoR spells out the specific requirements of the three services for the drones and their payloads, which includes the naval ones being equipped with maritime patrol radars.

The deal will also involve GA setting up a “cost-effective and comprehensive global maintenance, repair, overhaul facility” in India, apart from also sourcing some components from Indian firms.

The fighter-sized MQ-9B drones are designed to fly for around 40 hours at altitudes over 40,000-feet for over-the-horizon ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions and are armed with Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and smart bombs for precision strikes.

The two unarmed Sea Guardians, acquired by the Indian Navy on lease from General Atomics in September 2020, incidentally, have been effectively used for high-end ISR missions both in the IOR as well as along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control with China.

The MQ-9B deal is also expected to help DRDO develop indigenous HALE drones capable of firing missiles and precision-guided munitions on enemy targets before returning to their home bases.

Ahead of PM-Biden meet, India formally asks for ‘killer’ drones - Times of India

Ahead of the Modi-Biden meeting on Friday, India has issued the formal request to the US government for the mega acquisition of 31 top-notch weaponised MQ-9B Reaper or Predator-B drones, aiming to ink the final contract within this financial year.

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dam... so no more abilundons ...

 

[kingQamaR]

There is nothing wrong with playing sides in the cold war. All the foreign policy games do not compensate for piss poor internal development.

India is far ahead of Pakistan in political stability, administrative reforms and human resource development even during the cold war. Right now they are
racing ahead in physical infrastructure, financial strength and economic development.

your misinformation mate . Blaming pakistan for Russia & US bad decision. Should have also tell how much we lost during these wars not just money but lives too. Who is going come invest in Pakistan when global war was raging next door for over 2 decades on your TVs constantly. It’s not that desire friend china & Cpec have brought lots of areas to modern standards in lots of areas. Roads , railways power plants. They need a good stable governance to kick start it.

 

[kmc_chacko]

you go try and shift as much blame on pakistan as you can when we all know it was Russians & americas fault Cold War . Pakistan did what any country would do when it faced threats it would have done the same as us irrespective of negative fall out after hostilities ended.

I am not blaming it on people's of Pakistan I am pointing fingers towards Elites of Pakistan who filled their coffers and sent their citizens to coffins.

 

[nahtanbob]

your misinformation mate . Blaming pakistan for Russia & US bad decision. Should have also tell how much we lost during these wars not just money but lives too. Who is going come invest in Pakistan when global war was raging next door for over 2 decades on your TVs constantly. It’s not that desire friend china & Cpec have brought lots of areas to modern standards in lots of areas. Roads , railways power plants. They need a good stable governance to kick start it.

There were a lot of wars throughout the Cold War. Many of those countries have recovered. Vietnam is a good example.

For the umpteen time Modern Infra != Development.
CPEC projects are uneconomical at the price points. Someone is going to take a haircut. Either the Chinese lenders or the Pakistani government. It is not my problem. The IMF made it f**king clear it won't be theirs

 

[bloo]

you go try and shift as much blame on pakistan as you can when we all know it was Russians & americas fault Cold War . Pakistan did what any country would do when it faced threats it would have done the same as us irrespective of negative fall out after hostilities ended.

This is such cope.
Soviet-Afghan War ended & then the Cold War ended - no one forced Pakistan to be dependent on the US after that. All the major forces that could harm Pakistan were more or less ousted around the 90s. Pakistan had no reason to not diversify and not be so dependent on the US, but yall didn't, coz it was easy and comfortable to have US as an "ally".

There's a weird strain of Pakistani thought that believes that India is in the same boat as Pakistan and isn't leaving Pakistan in the dust, which can't be farther from the truth.

 

[kingQamaR]

This is such cope.
Soviet-Afghan War ended & then the Cold War ended - no one forced Pakistan to be dependent on the US after that. All the major forces that could harm Pakistan were more or less ousted around the 90s. Pakistan had no reason to not diversify and not be so dependent on the US, but yall didn't, coz it was easy and comfortable to have US as an "ally".

There's a weird strain of Pakistani thought that believes that India is in the same boat as Pakistan and isn't leaving Pakistan in the dust, which can't be farther from the truth.

Sure, Pakistan definitely messed up to in its afghan Russian involvement in 80s . If that wasn’t bad enough Pakistani state in the 80s it was going to get a hell a lot worse come 2001 And it just got worse and worse of US Administration stubbornness —

One thing not mentioned by me is the fact that a MONTH after 9/11, the Taliban would've been willing to discuss handing over bin Laden to a neutral country if (1)TheU.S. stopped it's air campaign against Afghanistan and (2) If given evidence of bin Laden's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. Of course Bush at the time responding with "There's no need to discuss innocence or guilt. We know he's guilty" and rejected it as "non-negotiable"

.American exceptionalism at its finest.