Key Points
United States President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Indias plans to procure General Atomics MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV), according to a joint statement issued on June 22 after talks between the two leaders..
According to its manufacturer General Atomics, the MQ-9B can provide roughly 80% of the capability of a large human-flown maritime patrol aircraft at about 20% of its cost per hour..
This is the primary reason the Indian Navy is keen on these UAVs as it significantly reduces the wear and tear on manned aircraft as well as crew fatigue, its fleet of 12 P-8I long range maritime patrol aircraft, to keep an eye over the large swathes of the Indian Ocean Region...
In November 2022, General Atomics announced that the RPAs completed 10,000 flight hours during a period of two years, with the maiden flight taking place on November 21, 2020 and MQ-9As have helped the Indian Navy to cover over 14 million square miles of operating area...
As the deal has been under discussion for few years. in the run up to the announcement at Aero India in Bengaluru in February, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and General Atomics announced that the turbo-propeller engines which power the MQ-9B will be supported by HALs engine division for the Indian market..
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