India Inks Rs 1,943 Crore Deal To Lease Two MQ-9B Sea Guardian Unmanned Aircraft Systems

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Monday signed a contract with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) for leasing two MQ-9B Sea Guardian High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) for the Indian Navy for a period of 30 months.

The contract, valued at approximately ₹1,943 crore, was signed at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi in the presence of Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisition), Department of Defence, A. Anbarasu.

The leased MQ-9B Sea Guardian systems are equipped with advanced systems, state-of-the-art sensors and sophisticated payloads. According to MoD, their induction will significantly strengthen the Indian Navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) capabilities.

The systems will provide persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) coverage over vast areas of the maritime domain. This capability is expected to strengthen India’s ability to monitor developments across the Indian Ocean Region and respond to emerging situations.