Tag : MQ-9B

New Delhi: India is in an advanced stage of negotiations with the US to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones at a cost of over USD 3 billion to crank up its overall surveillance apparatus along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China and in the Indian Ocean, people familiar with the development said on Sunday. The long-endurance-hunter-killer drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, over-the-horizon targeting and hitting stationary ground targets. The MQ-9B drone is a variant of MQ-9 "Reaper" that was reportedly used to fire a modified version of the Hellfire missile which eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul last month. Authoritative sources in the defence establishment said talks between New Delhi and Washington are underway for the government-to-government procurement of the drones manufactured by US defence major General Atomics, and rejected reports that the deal is off the table. Dr Vivek Lall, the Chief Executive for the General Atomics Global Corporation, told PTI that the acquisition programme is at an advanced stage of discussions between the two governments. "We understand that the MQ-9B acquisition programme is at an advanced stage of discussion between the US and Indian governments," he said. "Any questions on those discussions should be addressed specifically to the respective governments. From a company perspective, General Atomics is ready to support India and values our longtime relationship," Lall added. The sources said the talks are focused on sorting out certain issues relating to cost component, weapons package and technology sharing. It is learnt that the procurement p ...