By The Indian Navy has hired 2 MQ-9B SeaGuardian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from the us to spice up its intelligence, police investigation and reconnaissance mission capabilities, within the thick of the border row with China within the Ladakh theatre, officers conversant in developments aforementioned on Wednesday.
The UAVs are hired for one year, the officers aforementioned, asking to not be named.
The sophisticated UAVs area unit a variant of the Predator B drones factory-made by U.S.A. firm General Atomics and are primarily based at the service base of operations Rajali in state, wherever the Indian Navy’s fleet of P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance mission craft is additionally primarily based.
The UAVs arrived in Republic of India in early Gregorian calendar month and commenced enterprise missions last week, the officers aforementioned.
The MQ-9B is that the 1st piece of military hardware to be hired by Republic of India when the govt proclaimed new weapon-buying procedures that allowed the choice of leasing military hardware.
The Defence Acquisition Procedure-2020, that came into result on Oct one, permits the leasing of military hardware to chop down on prices related to shopping for weapons and systems.
Capable of operative at Associate in Nursing altitude of forty,000 feet, the MQ-9B UAVs have Associate in Nursing endurance of thirty hours and a spread of over five,000 marine miles – capabilities which will permit the Indian Navy to stay immense areas of the ocean Region underneath police investigation, the officers aforementioned.
India plans to induct a complete of thirty such UAVs, as well as armed versions, for the 3 services.
