Indian Navy's MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone on lease from US crashes into Bay of Bengal
In 2020, the Indian Navy had taken on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from American defence major General Atomics for a period of one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean.
Indian Navy drone crashes: An MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone, which was leased by the Indian Navy from the US, encountered a technical failure and was ditched into the Bay of Bengal near Chennai on Wednesday. The drone was operating from the INS Rajali naval air station located in Arakkonam near Chennai, the Indian Navy said.
The MQ-9B Sea Guardian is a high-altitude, long-endurance drone, typically used for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
In 2020, the Indian Navy leased two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones, a variant of the Predator B produced by the US company General Atomics, to boost its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities across the Indian Ocean region (IOR). Initially, the lease was for one year, but it has since been extended. The drones have been operating from the naval air station Rajali in Tamil Nadu.
Indian Navy sought detailed report
"A high altitude long endurance remotely piloted aircraft leased by the Indian Navy operating from INS Rajali, Arakonnam encountered a technical failure at about 2 pm while on a routine surveillance mission which could not be reset in flight," the Indian Navy said in a statement.
"The aircraft was navigated to a safe area oversea and carried out a controlled ditching at sea off Chennai," it said. The Navy has sought a detailed report from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Notably, controlled ditching generally refers to an emergency landing of an aircraft on water.
India plans to buy 31 MQ-9B Predator drones
Under the lease agreement, General Atomics has been responsible for operating and maintaining the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones. As part of the agreement, the company is expected to replace the lost drone with another one.
This incident occurs amid India's ongoing procurement process for 31 MQ-9B Predator drones, which are expected to enhance the surveillance capabilities of the armed forces, especially along the disputed border with China. The Defence Ministry approved the acquisition of these drones from the US under a government-to-government framework in June last year, with a total cost of nearly USD 3 billion.
The MQ-9B is a variant of the MQ-9 "Reaper," which was notably used to launch a modified Hellfire missile that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul in July 2022.
(With PTI inputs)
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