India plans to buy 30 armed drones from the US to boost its sea and land defenses as tensions persist with neighbors China and Pakistan, officials with knowledge of the matter said.
The South Asian nation plans to approve next month the US$3 billion purchase of 30 MQ-9B Predator drones manufactured by San Diego-based General Atomics, the officials said, asking not to be identified.
The deal would add to India’s military capabilities as the drones it has now can only be used for surveillance and reconnaissance.
India is emerging as a strategic defense partner for the US, particularly in countering Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean and some areas of Southeast Asia.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is in the midst of a 10-year, US$250 billion modernization of its military.
Spokespeople from the Indian Ministry of Defence and General Atomics did not respond to requests for comment. Pentagon officials did not respond either.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is expected to visit India this month, according to local media, while US President Joe Biden is soon to join counterparts from India, Japan and Australia in the first-ever meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
The leaders are to meet virtually tomorrow, according to an announcement posted on the Indian government’s Web site.
The MQ-9B drone can fly for about 48 hours and carry a payload of about 1,700kg. It would give the Indian Navy the ability to better monitor Chinese warships close to its waters, and equip the army to engage targets along the disputed India-Pakistan border.
Last year, India leased two unarmed MQ-9 Predators as border tensions with China threatened to spin into a full-blown conflict.
In the end they were not deployed after the Indian Air Force expressed apprehension about drones manned by US personnel flying over the border.
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
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