Indian Navy to lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for 30 months
Credit General Atomics website
The Defence Ministry announced today that it has signed a contract with the US defence major General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) for the leasing of two MQ-9B Sea Guardian high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) for the Indian Navy for a period of 30 months.
The contract is valued at approximately Rs 1,943 crore, the MoD said.
It was signed in the presence of Additional Secretary & Director General (Acquisition), Department of Defence, A. Anbarasu, at Kartavya Bhawan-2.
The MQ-9B Sea Guardian HALE RPAS, equipped with advanced systems, state-of-the-art sensors and sophisticated payloads, “will significantly enhance the Indian Navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness capabilities."
“The systems will provide persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance coverage over vast areas of the maritime domain, strengthening India’s ability to monitor and respond to developments across the Indian Ocean Region,” the MoD said in a statement.
The Navy is currently operating two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones since 2020, taken on lease from General Atomics.
