India’s strength in the sky is going to increase further. The US government has approved the sale of 31 MQ-9B Predator drones to India. These remote-controlled drones are equipped with weapons and can sabotage the plans of the enemy country within a moment. With the acquisition of these drones, the problems of China and Pakistan are sure to increase. Because it is being said that out of total 31 drones, 15 will be given to the Indian Navy and eight drones each to the Army and Air Force.
The US State Department has told Predator drone manufacturing company ‘General Atomic’ that the US Congress has passed the ‘tiered review’ of 31 MQ-9B drones to be sold to India. A notification in this regard will be issued by the US Congress in the next 24 hours. Many kinds of speculations were being made regarding this deal worth approximately 4 billion dollars. But now the American Defense Security Cooperation Agency has also issued a statement confirming that the government has finalized the deal.
Includes Sky Guardian Drone and Sea Guardian Drone
The drones that the Indian government is purchasing will include Sky Guardian Drone and Sea Guardian Drone. Sea Guardian drones will be used for maritime surveillance, while Sky Guardian drones will be deployed for guarding land borders. They can be deployed on the India-China or India-Pakistan border. All drones are equipped with global positioning and inertial navigation system. These are equipped with 35 L3 Rio Grande Communications Intelligence sensor suites. Along with these, India will also get 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 16 M369 Hellfire captive air training missiles and small laser bombs. These drones will enable India to increase surveillance capacity on its borders and monitor potential threats more effectively. Besides, these drones are also sure to be used to keep an eye on China’s growing dominance in the Indian Ocean region.
Let us know their qualities
-They have the ability to fire missiles and ammunition at enemy targets like fighter planes.
-These drones are capable of surveillance and reconnaissance and their armed version is equipped with Hellfire missiles.
-Equipped with powerful weapons, these drones are capable of flying long distances and gathering intelligence.
-They will also be useful in monitoring disputed areas and humanitarian aid in case of disaster.
-The drone also has airborne early warning, electronic warfare, anti-surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.
-They can also be deployed to deal with situations like drug trafficking and piracy.
-These drones can fly for up to 40 hours in all types of weather, and can keep an eye from a height of 40 thousand feet.
-Also capable of automatic take-off and landing, it can be operated both day and night.
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Tags: Drone, US Congress
FIRST PUBLISHED : February 2, 2024, 24:20 IST
