India-US Drone deal: India to purchase Military drones worth $3 Bn USD amidst Modi's visit. - Starx91

For the past eight years, India and the United States have been discussing the acquisition of these drones to improve the surveillance capabilities of the Indian armed forces.

What Exactly Are Predator Drones?
They are to drones what Porsches are to automobiles. General Atomics, a defence contractor based in San Diego, developed these high-precision surveillance and combat drones. They were the first drones to be equipped with video cameras. Their first assignment was simply to observe. A Predator drone famously identified Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2000. The first armed Predators with the terrifying Hellfire missiles appeared shortly after 9/11.

According to people familiar with the matter, India’s defense ministry approved the acquisition of 31 MQ-9B armed drones from the United States on Thursday, with a formal announcement on the deal expected during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington next week. According to the sources, a meeting of the Defense Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by defense minister Rajnath Singh approved the purchase of General Atomics drones.

• In a deal worth slightly more than $3 billion, it is expected that India will purchase the drones. These drones have a range of more than 27 hours and can fly at altitudes of up to 50,000 feet.
• The navy will receive fifteen drones, with the army and air force receiving eight each.
• The announcement of the agreement is expected to take place when US President Joe Biden meets Modi at the White House on June 22. Both sides hope that the talks between the two leaders will lead to breakthroughs in collaboration in other areas, such as critical and emerging technologies. This state visit will only be the third one hosted by Joe Biden.

Specialties of the deadly MQ-9B Reapers

• The Multi-Spectral Targeting System (MTS-B), a powerful set of visual targeting sensors, a laser designator, a colour, monochrome daylight TV camera, a shortwave infrared camera, and a laser illuminator are all included in the drones’ baseline system. Additionally, it has a synthetic aperture radar and a laser rangefinder/designator for precisely identifying targets for the use of laser-guided weapons.
• The MQ-9 is capable of using up to eight of the highly accurate, low-collateral-damage Air-to-Ground Missile-114 Hellfire, which is an anti-armor and anti-personnel missile. It can engage targets effectively. Furthermore, it has the capability to disassemble the Hellfire missiles, load them into a single container for deployment, and transport them via a larger aircraft like the C-130 Hercules.