India to get 30 state of the art US Made MQ-9 Reaper drones? Decision shortly

Jun 15, 2023

New Delhi, June 15 (ANI): Ahead of PM Modi's visit to the US, India's Defence Ministry is going to discuss the acquisition of US made MQ-9 Reaper drones. Sources said that the acquisition of these drones will be discussed during a high-level meeting of the Defence Ministry on June 15. Earlier, the plan was to rationalise the acquisition of these drones and reduce their numbers from 30 to 18 or less. Now India is expected to go ahead with the original plan of acquisition of 30 drones, including 10 each for all three services. The Indian Navy is the lead service for the acquisition of these drones and has been pursuing the case thoroughly Featuring unmatched operational flexibility, MQ-9A has endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS: General Atomics Aeronautical. With 500% more payload, Reaper provides a long-endurance, persistent surveillance/strike capability for the war fighter. Three services also have plans of going in for similar medium altitude and long endurance drones from indigenous sources. Meanwhile, PM Modi is scheduled to visit the US from June 21 to 24, where US President Joe Biden will host him. This will be PM Modi's first state visit to the US during his nine-year tenure as Prime Minister.