In order to boost its defence sector, India plans to buy 30 armed drones from the United States.
In April, India will authorize the purchase of $3 billion of 30 MQ-9B Predator drones produced by General Atomics, based in San Diego.
Currently, Indian drones can only be used for surveillance and reconnaissance, but the inclusion of armed drones would add to India’s military capability.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is in the middle of a 10-year, $250 billion military upgrade.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin is scheduled to visit India in March, while President Joe Biden will shortly join his colleagues from India, Japan and Australia in the first meeting of the Quad bloc. The MQ-9B drone will fly for approximately 48 hours and carry a payload of approximately 1,700 kilograms (3,700 pounds). It would provide the Indian Navy the opportunity to properly track Chinese warships in the Southern Indian Ocean and equip the Army to deploy targets along the contested Indian-Pakistan frontier in the Himalayas.
