In a significant development, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency under the United States Department on 1st February announced the formal approval to sale 31 General Atomics MQ-9B drones along with a large number of missiles and other related components to India. In a statement, the agency said, “The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India of MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.99 billion.”
The statement added that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today. As per the agency, apart from 31 Remotely Piloted Aircraft, the deal also includes several other equipment, costing the deal $3.99 billion.
Notably, the announcement comes just a day after propaganda outlet The Wire claimed that the US govt has blocked the deal over the alleged plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. In an article written by well-known defence propagandist Ajai Shukla claimed that the US govt has blocked the delivery of “MQ-9A Sea Guardian and Sky Guardian drones until the India govt carries out a meaningful investigation” into the alleged conspiracy to assassinate KPannun. US State Department had already rubbished the report earlier, saying that formal notification would be issued later.
Other than the 31 drones, the deal includes 161 Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation Systems, 35 L3 Rio Grande Communications Intelligence Sensor Suites, 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 16 M36E9 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles, 310 GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs (LSDB) and 8 GBU-39B/B LSDB Guided Test Vehicles (GTVs) with live fuzes.
The deal also includes Certifiable Ground Control Stations, TPE-331-10-GD engines, M299 Hellfire missile launchers, KIV-77 cryptographic appliques and other Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment, KOR-24A Small Tactical Terminals (STT), AN/SSQ-62F, AN/SSQ-53G, and AN/SSQ-36 sonobuoys, ADU-891/E Adapter Group Test Sets, Common Munitions Built-In-Test (BIT) Reprogramming Equipment (CMBRE), GBU-39B/B tactical training rounds, Weapons Load Crew Trainers, and Reliability Assessment Vehicles-Instrumented, Portable Pre-flight/Post-flight Equipment (P3E), CCM-700A encryption devices, KY-100M Narrowband/wideband terminals, KI-133 cryptographic units, AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loaders, Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, ROVER 6Si and TNR2x transceivers, MR6000 ultra high frequency (UHF) and very high frequency (VHF) radios, Selex SeaSpray Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) surveillance radars, HISAR-300 Radars, SNC 4500 Auto Electronic Surveillance Measures (ESM) Systems, SAGE 750 ESM systems, Due Regard Radars (DRR), MX-20 Electro-Optical Infrared (EO-IR) Laser Target Designators (LTDs), Ku-Band SATCOM GAASI Transportable Earth Stations (GATES), C-Band Line-of-Sight (LOS) Ground Data Terminals, AN/DPX-7 IFF transponders, and Compact Multi-band Data Links (CMDL).
Apart from this huge list of weapons and components, the deal also includes initial spare and repair parts, consumables, accessories, and repair and return support, secure communications, precision navigation, and cryptographic equipment, munitions support and support equipment, testing and integration support and equipment, classified and unclassified software delivery and support, classified and unclassified publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, transportation support, warranties, studies and surveys, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistics and program support.
The statement said that the “proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the U.S.-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defense partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.”
It adds that the “sale will “improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by enabling unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in sea lanes of operation. India has demonstrated a commitment to modernizing its military and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”
The statement further added that there will be offsets which will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will be the principal contractor.
Talking about the estimated value of $3.99 billion, the statement said that it is for the highest estimated quantity and the dollar value is based on initial requirements. “Actual dollar value will be lower depending on final requirements, budget authority, and signed sales agreement(s), if and when concluded,” Defense Security Cooperation Agency clarified.
Notably, the statement said that the deal is for 31 MQ-9B Sky Guardian aircraft, but earlier reports about the deal said that India is buying 16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian variants of the MQ-9B drone. It is not yet known whether it is an oversight in the statement or if the deal has been modified. The modification of the deal seems unlikely, as the Indian Navy is already operating two Sea Guardian drones taken on lease since November 2020.