On July 28, 2024, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, reviewed and approved amendments to the contract for 31 MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) from General Atomics of the United States, according to defense sources.
“The approved amendments are in line with the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) that was granted for the MQ-9B deal. They pertain to indigenous content and related aspects,” a defense source stated.
Official sources indicated that the United States has completed its part of the process with a letter of offer and acceptance delivered to India in early March. It is now up to India to complete the procedures before the deal can be signed. In the final step, the agreement must be approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security before it can be finalized. With the Quad leaders’ summit scheduled to be hosted by India in December, the MQ-9B deal, along with the GE-414 jet engine deal, are expected to be concluded during the visit of the U.S. President to India.
India plans to procure 31 MQ-9B UAVs, including 15 Sea Guardians for the Indian Navy and 16 Sky Guardians – eight for both the Indian Army and Air Force, estimated to cost $3.99 billion. As part of the deal, General Atomics is scheduled to establish a Global Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India, which would count towards offset obligations.
Indeed, the U.S. State Department approved a potential foreign military sale to India in February 2024, which includes MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.99 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency has transmitted the required certification to Congress today, informing lawmakers of this planned sale.
India has expressed a desire to acquire thirty-one (31) MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones, along with various complementary equipment, including one hundred sixty-one (161) integrated inertial and satellite navigation systems (EGIs) and thirty-five (35) L3 Rio Grande communication intelligence sensor suites. The transaction also includes the acquisition of one hundred seventy (170) AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, sixteen (16) Hellfire M36E9 training missiles, three hundred ten (310) GBU-39B/B laser-guided small diameter bombs, and eight (8) GBU-39B/B guided test vehicles with live fuzes.
The sale would also include certifiable ground control stations, TPE-331-10-GD engines, Hellfire M299 missile launchers, KIV-77 cryptographic appliques, and other Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment, among various other systems and supports.