NEW DELHI: The India-US deal for the acquisition of armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) has been approved on Thursday.
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved the proposal, confirmed sources to The New Indian Express. The DAC is the highest decision-making body in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The deal, approved before the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is for 30 armable MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics, with 10 each for the Army, Navy and Air Force.
PM Modi will be making his first state visit to the US from June 21 to 25, with US President Joe Biden set to host him at the White House.
The drones have high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) and can be armed with missiles. They can operate for around 30 hours in all weather conditions.
The overall deal is expected to cost around USD 3 billion with the drones, once acquired, enabling the strengthening of surveillance capabilities along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and deep into the Indian Ocean.
India is operating two Predator drones which were hired on lease from an American firm. Those have been in use by the Navy to keep track of activities in the Indian Ocean region.