Even as India is considering the purchase of General Atomics drones, the MQ-9B Sea Guardian, Taiwan has gone ahead and done a deal for getting four the drones for almost $ 555 Million
The scope includes: Out-pacing China; developing a National Defense Strategy; streamlining and strengthening cooperation with US allies and partners, particularly in the Indo-Pacific; bolstering deterrence; accelerate development of new operational concepts; emerging capabilities and future force posture.
IDD Update Faced with a rapidly rising China’s military prowess, India, emerging from a devastating covid surge looks to add to its sea-going arsenal. The latest are a $ 5.8 billion order for next generation of conventional submarines and a quick movement is happening in New Delhi add more drones, of the General Atomics MQ-9B.
India is looking at two variants. One for the Navy and the other for the Army and the IAF. India has, so far, been studying the MQ9B-Sky Guardian and the Sea Guardian, models of the company. However, some of the drones will the latest variant of the predator family called the MQ-9A block 5, that has been successfully tested for anti submarine warfare (ASW) capability in January this year.
An allocation of almost $ 18 billion, under what is called the ‘Capital head’ of its budget, is the largest increase in 15 years when calculated on an year-on-year basis. It also almost doubles the allocation within past four years. In the budget presented in February 2017 the allocation was Rs 69,473 Crore ( approx $ 9.26 billion).
The US policy change affected in July this year and the subsequent moves, break China’s rapidly growing influence in the ‘armed drone market’. India or Taiwan would be a ‘no go zone’ for Chinese companies, which, however, in the past, had sold drones to UAE. Beijing had even sold some drones to Saudi Arabia, a long standing ally of the US
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