India wants to acquire 30 Predator drones from US for powering up it’s military capability. Thus Prime Minister Narendra Modi is meeting the head of armed drone manufacturer General Atomics . This is along with four other top US company CEOs in Washington on September 23.
Meeting with CEOs
According to sources , PM Modi will be meeting all the four CEOs on one-to-one basis as each company . They are heading are leaders in their respective fields. Namely the heads of General Atomics, Qualcomm, semi-conductor major, BlackRock global investment company. First Solar, non-conventional energy leader, and Adobe, US leader in software.
Apple CEO Tim Cook dropped out at the last moment due to health reasons. Also Covid numbers are climbing in the US. Drone discussion will not include him.
It is quite evident from the line-up that PM Modi meetings with the CEOs are with the specific intention of India being a key part of global resilient chain. Military power matches over the horizon capabilities in the Indo-Pacific and speed up non-conventional energy needs. This to go beyond the climate change commitments for climate justice.
All the companies are global leaders in their own right. The meeting with General Atomics head acquires significance to drone discussion. This is because Indian Navy is already operating two Predator MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicles. They are building maritime domain awareness from Gulf of Aden to Lombok Straits in Indonesia.
Indian Navy’s Role
Meanwhile With Indian Navy as the lead player, India has plans to acquire 30 Predator armed UAVs. Each service will get 10 each for muscling its stand-off capabilities. Also the Army can arm the Predator with seven Hell-Fire air to surface missiles (ASMs) or laser guided bombs. The UAV operates at a ceiling of 50,000 feet and has an endurance of nearly 27 hours. It is a multi-mission aircraft with multi-mode radar for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting.
It is important for India to acquire armed drones. Nonetheless s own indigenous capability is limited with both Beijing and Islamabad operating Chinese made armed drones. Pakistan is also eyeing to acquire armed drones for Turkey. It is now is a self-appointed leader of Sunni world and wants to bring back orthodox legacy of the bygone Ottoman Empire. Fighters used the Turkish drones were used to good effect in the Azerbaijan-Armenian conflict with Pakistani mercenaries against Armenia.
Meanwhile Biden has given a green signal for India to acquire Predator drone. Following this its only a matter of time when the Indian Navy brings up the proposal before the Defence Acquisition Committee (DAC) for the process to take off. Image credits: unsplash
