Why in the News
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed a ₹1,943 crore contract with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) to lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian aircraft to the Indian Navy for 30 months. This will increase the Navy’s leased HALE RPAS fleet from 2 to 4, enabling simultaneous surveillance of India’s eastern and western seaboards.
What is MQ-9B Sea Guardian?
- HALE: High Altitude Long Endurance
- RPAS: Remotely Piloted Aircraft System
- Maritime variant of the MQ-9B family.
- Provides persistent ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) over large maritime areas.
- Equipped with advanced sensors and surveillance payloads.
- Can also undertake precision strikes.
- Strengthens MDA (Maritime Domain Awareness) in the Indian Ocean Region.
Key Concepts
Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)
- Understanding activities in the maritime environment affecting security, safety, economy and marine environment.
- It integrates: Radar, Satellites, Coastal surveillance, AIS (Automatic Identification System), and Airborne sensors
HALE RPAS
- An unmanned aircraft operated remotely from a ground control station.
- High altitude: Wider sensor coverage.
- Long endurance: Prolonged surveillance with fewer interruptions.
Why is India Leasing MQ-9Bs?
- Bridges the surveillance gap until the 31 purchased MQ-9Bs are delivered.
- Provides immediate long endurance maritime surveillance.
- Allows crews and maintainers to gain experience with a configuration similar to the future fleet.
- Builds on the Navy’s existing experience with leased MQ-9As since 2020.
How Does It Strengthen the Navy?
- HALE systems increase from 2 to 4.
- Enables simultaneous surveillance of eastern and western maritime regions.
- Improves persistent monitoring of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
- Strengthens early detection and response to maritime threats.
2024 India-US MQ-9B Agreement
- 31 MQ-9B systems for India’s armed forces.
- Approximate value: $3.5 billion.
- Includes a Global MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) facility in India.
- Provides for some assembly in India.
- Includes indigenous sourcing of components.
- Supports defence indigenisation and domestic manufacturing.
[2025] With reference to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), consider the following statements:
I. All types of UAVs can do vertical landing.
II. All types of UAVs can do automated hovering.
III. All types of UAVs can use battery only as a source of power supply.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All the three
(d) None
