India, US seal $3.5-bn deal for 31 drones
Deal has been conducted under what is the foreign military sales system that involves a government to government agreement
India has signed a defence deal worth $3.5 billion with the US to acquire 31 MQ-9B drones to boost its defence preparedness, primarily with an eye on China, on Tuesday. The agreement comes after a deliberative process in New Delhi that spanned eight years, involved negotiations with two US administrations, incorporated the lease of two drones in this period, and required, at the American end, a challenging process of congressional approval.
Fifteen drones are meant for the Indian Navy, and eight for the Army and the Air Force.
As a subset of the deal, General Atomics, the manufacturer of the drones, will set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India, a move that experts see as a part of India’s steady efforts to get global defence majors to invest at home.
In a post on X, the ministry of defence said that it had inked a context with the US government for “Tri-Service procurement of 31 MQ-9B Sky/Sea Guardian High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)”. The ministry added that another contract had been signed with General Atomics Global India Pvt Ltd “for Performance Based Logistics for these RPAS through Depot Level Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul in India”.
Describing the deal as a significant milestone in the India-US strategic partnership, Sameer Lalwani, an expert on the bilateral defence relationship and senior fellow at the US Institute of Peace, highlighted three key features of the deal.
He said that the acquisition of the drones will first help India boost what is termed “deterrence by detection”. “The drones will help India detect adversarial advances on land or at sea early, including from China, in order to interdict them early and prevent conflict.”
Lalwani said the platforms will also enhance India’s “ability to efficiently network its naval reconnaissance platforms to track China’s naval operations in the Indian Ocean, both on the surface and under water”, and technically coordinate with “other like-minded partners including the US and other Quad members”.
“Finally, the deal provides a successful template of US-India defence technology cooperation for other US defence primes to emulate. As General Atomics has now demonstrated, partnering with Indian companies ranging from startups to defence majors in order to source indigenous innovations, production, and sustainment, can help US primes land big business deals,” Lalwani said.
The deal has been conducted under what is the foreign military sales (FMS) system that involves a government to government agreement, but with the US government then contracting GA to supply the drones. It has been a top priority for both sides and has found reflection in joint statements at the highest levels.
During PM Narendra Modi’s state visit to US in June 2023, the joint statement said that the MQ-9Bs, to be assembled in India, “will enhance the ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capabilities of India’s armed forces across domains” and underlined that the MRO facility would support India’s “long-term goals to boost indigenous defence capabilities”. In the most recent joint statement during Modi’s visit to US last month, the joint statement said that President Joe Biden had “welcomed the progress towards India concluding procurement” of the 31 MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment.
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