This development comes barely a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden held talks on the acquisition of Predator drones on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit held in Delaware.
India has agreed to procure 31 Predator MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance UAVs from the US. The agreement has been signed with General Atomics, the manufacturer of these vehicles.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden had discussed the deal on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit held in Delaware.
Both countries agreed to sign an agreement amounting to Rs 32,000 crore towards the deal on buying 31 predator drones and the MRO facility setup in India.
It would enhance the surveillance strength of the Indian armed forces. The reports also said that the total value of this deal could increase to as much as Rs 34,500 crore.
The project was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security last week. Fifteen birds will go to the Indian Navy, while the rest will be divided equally between the Air Force and Army.
India has been discussing this deal with the US for many years, but the final hurdles were cleared a few weeks ago in the Defence Acquisition Council meeting. It had to be cleared before October 31, as the validity of the American proposal was only until then.
Reports indicate that India intends to site the drones at four locations: the INS Rajala near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, Porbandar in Gujarat, Sarsawa, and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
