In a significant
development, India has successfully secured a deal to acquire 31 MQ-9 Reaper drones from
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), a prominent US-based company.
The procurement of these advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is being facilitated
through government-to-government channels and the Foreign Military Sales route,
with an estimated cost of approximately US$ 3 billion.
This deal is being seen as a key highlight of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States.
The joint statement released at the conclusion of discussions between
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden in Washington DC acknowledges and
applauds India's intention to procure General Atomics MQ-9B High-Altitude,
Long-Endurance (HALE) UAVs. These state-of-the-art drones will be assembled within India.
Viewers may note that in November 2020,
the Indian Navy began operating two leased MQ-9B SeaGuardians, which is the naval variant.
The lease agreement was valid for one year and has been extended subsequently.
Its effectiveness convinced India to go for this deal.
In this video, Defense Updates analyses what MQ-9 Reaper will bring to the table
for the Indian Armed forces? Let's get into the details.
The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial
vehicle or UAV capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed
by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, primarily for the United States Air Force.
The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance.
On March 9th, 2018, the US Air Force officially retired Predator and replaced it with MQ-9 Reaper.
Reaper will be the backbone of US Air Force drone operations going forward.
Viewers may note that Predator was the one which initiated the era of unmanned
air combat and put the fear of god into the heart of America’s enemies, especially the terrorists.
The MQ-9 is a larger, heavier, and more capable aircraft than Predator.
Reaper is a major upgrade and brings much more to the table when compared to Predator.
Predator had an endurance of 24 hours, a service ceiling of 25,000 ft., a range of 675 mi or 1,100
km, and a max speed of 135 mph or 217 km/h. Reaper has an endurance of 27 hours, a service
ceiling of 50,000 ft, a range of 1,151 mi or 1,852 km and a max speed of 300 mph or 482 km/h
With extended-range (ER) upgrade kits,
Reapers will have an endurance of up to 42 hours without external stores.
Reaper’s main sensor is the nose-mounted MTS-B multi-spectral surveillance and targeting
turret and its fuselage-mounted Lynx synthetic aperture radar.
But Reaper’s pylons are very versatile and can be used to carry a variety of
tactical equipment like communications relay hops,
electronic warfare pods, as well as Wide Area Aerial Surveillance (WAAS) camera arrays.
The additional sensors are designed to act in conjunction with the drone’s main sensors.
While it is unclear, it is likely that the India-bound MQ-9 will also have Ground Moving
Targeting Identification (GMTI) sensor. GMTI is a radar capability that can be
used to trail moving targets on the ground over time using radar.
The idea is to create Ground Moving Targeting
Identification (GMTI) sensor nodes that can be dispersed around the war zone.
MQ-9 will bolster the intelligence, surveillance,
and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of the country's armed forces across various domains.
Reaper has the ability to carry around 2,500 lbs or 1100 kg of
weapons payload through its external hard-points.
The Reaper's hard-points give it the ability to deploy a combination of AGM-114 Hellfire,
GBU-12 Paveway, and GBU-38 JDAM munitions.
AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile is capable of precision strikes. It can
be used with many types of warheads like High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) or tandem
anti-armor Metal augmented charge (MAC) or shaped charge Blast fragmentation.
GBU-12 Paveway is an aerial laser-guided bomb. It is based on the Mk 82 500-pound
general-purpose bomb but has a nose-mounted laser seeker and
fins for guidance. GPS guidance modes have been added to make the bomb more accurate.
The GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition or JDAM is a 500 lb or 226 kg bomb manufactured
by Boeing using the Mk82 bomb body. JDAM is a guidance kit that has an
inertial guidance system coupled to a GPS receiver that converts unguided bombs into all-weather
“smart” munitions. JDAM has a published range of up to 15 nautical miles or 28 km.
All of these are Air to Ground Weapons. But Reaper could potentially be armed
with AIM-9X air-to-air missile. AIM-9X has a speed of Mach 2.5 and
a range of 22 miles or 35 km. It has Infrared homing for guidance and has a 9.4 kg warhead.
As per reports, the Navy will get 15 drones while the Army and the Indian Air Force will get 8 each.
The acquisition of these drones carries immense importance for the Indian government,
as it intends to utilize them to bolster its surveillance capabilities along the
border with China and in the Indian Ocean region.
India has border disputes with China, and the ever-expanding Chinese fleet is
also making increasing forays into the Indian Ocean region.
This deal will also further strengthen Indo-US relations.
Vivek Lall, the Chief Executive of General Atomics Global Corporation,
called the decision to acquire Reaper drones for the Indian Armed forces
"a breakthrough moment for India-US strategic and defense partnership."
He said, "General Atomics is pleased to be a major contributor in taking it to the next level."
As evident the deal will not only provided a capability boost but
also move US-India partnership to the next level.