New Delhi: The US government Thursday approved the sale of 31 MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) and related equipment to India for an estimated cost of USD 3.99 billion and notified the Congress, paving the way for a formal contract to be signed in the coming months.
Sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee had given the nod for the deal, after which the Congress was formally notified.
A nod from the Congress could take a month, sources said, adding that in the meantime, a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) will be issued by the US state department to the Indian government, as reported by ThePrint earlier in the day.
“The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India of MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.99 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today,” read a statement issued by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
It added that this proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defense partner that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.
India had requested the US for 31 MQ-9B Sky Guardian aircraft, 161 Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 16 M36E9 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM), 310 GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs (LSDB) and 8 GBU-39B/B LSDB Guided Test Vehicles (GTVs) with live fuzes besides other items for the High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones besides logistics support.
The proposed sale will improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by enabling unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in sea lanes of operation, the US agency said, adding that India has demonstrated a commitment to modernising its military and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.
It also said that the principal contractor will be General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and India’s requirement for offsets will be defined in negotiations with the contractor.
“Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to India,” it said.
As reported earlier, the Indian Navy will get 15 MQ9B drones in maritime and anti-submarine warfare kits, while the Army and the Indian Air Force (IAF) will get 8 each of its land version.
While India had been eyeing the HALE drones from the US, the country in 2018 offered India the armed version of the Guardian drones, which were originally authorised for sale as unarmed and for surveillance.
The then Trump administration, which had pushed for the deal, had expected the announcement of planned procurement at the two-plus-two ministerial dialogue in New Delhi on 27 October, 2020. India, however, did not succumb to America’s push.
This was because India wanted General Atomics to set up a regional maintenance repair and overhaul facility in India for the drones which will now be part of the offset contract.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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