New Delhi: The $3 billion deal for the 31 High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones between India and the US brings to culmination the Indian military’s long-standing desire to have unprecedented surveillance and attack capability as well as the pragmatism of the American political and military establishment.
Under the deal, the 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 the land version.
While both the variants have the option of being armed, sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint that initially all the drones will be unarmed.
“These drones have specialised sensors for land- and sea-based operations. The armaments for these are also different and each Service has their own requirement. For example, one of the Services has a requirement for a much longer-range missile to target enemy positions and that is currently under development for the US military,” a source said.
As these drones were extensively used in multiple operations in various conflict theatres like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria including to take out high-worth individuals like al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US has been shying away from sharing its technology with other countries.
However, as more and more countries focussed on drone technology and China emerged as the world’s biggest exporter of armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the US eased its restrictions.
It was June 2017 during a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then American President Donald Trump that the US offered to sell surveillance variants of the Guardian drones to India, an offer that was music to the ears of the Indian Navy.
India was the first non-treaty partner to be offered a MTCR Category-1 Unmanned Aerial System – the Sea Guardian UAS that is manufactured by American firm General Atomics.
While the negotiations carried on, the Army joined the fray seeking an armed version of the drone. Finally in 2019, the Trump administration decided to sweeten the offer by sanctioning sale of the armed drones.
Since it had first created the proposal for the induction of the HALE drones that allows continuous surveillance of over 36 hours at altitudes of over 40,000 feet, the Navy was made the lead agency even though this was a joint acquisition.
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Why Navy needs the drones
The Navy wanted HALE drones as the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean Region needs constant surveillance and to reduce over dependence on its fleet of P8i anti-submarine and maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
However, while the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was working on multiple drone programmes for years, it was yet to work on a HALE. And, hence, the Navy was interested in the deal with the Americans.
While the cost negotiations remained tough since the drones were very expensive, close to USD 100 million apiece, an opportunity opened up three years ago when the new Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020 introduced that year allowed leasing of defence equipment.
The Navy then immediately leased two Sea Guardians under emergency procurement. As of November last year, the two leased drones completed 10,000 flight hours in support of Indian security missions in two years.
Interestingly, even though the Navy operates these drones, they have been deployed along the western borders with Pakistan and the northern borders with China depending on the requirements of the other forces.
The Sea Guardian can enable real-time search and patrol above and below the ocean’s surface.
Due to its open architecture system, Sea Guardian operators can integrate sonobuoy management and control system (SMCS) and sonobuoy dispenser system (SDS) that help in tracking submarines.
Why Army & IAF want these drones
While both Services get 8 each of these drones from the US, the Army is the more eager of the two and the IAF initially questioned the need for such drones.
Sources explained that the Army needs these drones for deeper surveillance to carry out possible strikes if needed. These drones will be deployed for surveillance of border areas, sources said.
The Army has been focusing big on drones. The drones that the Army is interested in and have started inducting vary from the small tactical surveillance ones to the long-range and specialised systems for high altitude, armed and kamikaze drones, besides the ones meant for logistics.
The Army made its first big change to its drone policy in late 2020, as reported by ThePrint, when it decided to hand over all operations of its fleet comprising Israeli Searcher and Heron UAVs from the Artillery to its aviation corps. This indicated a basic change in understanding of the Army on how it looks at the future of drones or UAVs.
When the drones were first procured in early 2000s, they were primarily used for target sightings and, hence, under the Artillery, which had the long range requirement.
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But LAC stand-off changed everything
The Army, which was flying the Herons for surveillance along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), went ahead and bought four of the latest Israeli UAVs, which are satellite linked. This meant that the Herons could undertake longer missions.
Army sources have described the drones as a “force multiplier technology” and pointed out that instead of soldiers physically being out in the bitter cold patrolling every single point, the drones will be the eyes on the ground.
Unlike the enthusiasm in the Army, the sources said, the IAF feels that the drones are too expensive and will not be able to operate freely in a densely contested airspace of India, China and Pakistan.
ThePrint had in March 2021 reported that the IAF was finally on board with the Navy and the Army for procurement of the drones. One of the requirements of the IAF was a longer range missile than what was being offered.
Meanwhile, the Indian military is also looking at IAF’s Project Cheetah, under which a minimum Rs 5,500 crore contract is being taken up to upgrade the Heron medium-altitude long-endurance drone fleet with all three Services into armed UAVs.
(Edited by Tony Rai)