Leased from the US, One of the Indian Navy's MQ-9B Sea Guardian Drone crashes into the Bay of Bengal

Source : IgMp Bulletin

Indian Navy MQ-9B Sea Guardian UAV (ANI File Photo)

Leased from the US, One of the Indian Navy's MQ-9B Sea Guardian Drone crashes into the Bay of Bengal

An MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone, leased by the Indian Navy from the United States, suffered a technical malfunction and was forced to ditch into the Bay of Bengal close to Chennai on Wednesday. The drone was operating from the INS Rajali naval air station situated in Arakkonam, near Chennai, as reported by the Indian Navy.

The MQ-9B Sea Guardian is designed for high-altitude, long-endurance missions, primarily intended for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

In 2020, the Indian Navy entered into a lease agreement for two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones, a version of the Predator B made by the American firm General Atomics, to enhance its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities in the Indian Ocean region (IOR). The initial lease was for one year, but it has since been extended. The drones have been operating from the Rajali naval air station in Tamil Nadu.

MQ-9B Predator flying with Indian Navy crashed n went down over sea. Ye Bharatiya Nau Sena ko zyada cost nahi karega as it was only on lease. The vendor General Atomics was operating it n they were its owners pic.twitter.com/brV2CMZVME

— Ajit Kumar Dubey (@ajitkdubey) September 18, 2024

Indian Navy Requests Detailed Report 

"A high-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft leased by the Indian Navy, operating from INS Rajali in Arakkonam, experienced a technical failure around 2 PM during a routine surveillance mission that could not be resolved in-flight," the Indian Navy stated.

"The aircraft was directed to a secure area over the sea and executed a controlled ditching off the coast of Chennai," it added. The Navy has requested a comprehensive report from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

It is important to note that controlled ditching generally pertains to an emergency landing of an aircraft on water.

India Plans to Acquire 31 MQ-9B Predator Drones

  

According to the lease arrangement, General Atomics is accountable for the operation and maintenance of the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones. Under this agreement, the company is expected to provide a replacement for the lost drone.

This incident takes place amid India's ongoing efforts to procure 31 MQ-9B Predator drones, which are anticipated to bolster the surveillance capabilities of the armed forces, particularly along the contentious border with China. The Defence Ministry greenlit the purchase of these drones from the US under a government-to-government framework in June of the previous year, with a total expenditure nearing USD 3 billion. The MQ-9B is a variant of the MQ-9 "Reaper," which was notably utilized to launch a modified Hellfire missile that resulted in the death of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul in July 2022.

(With PTI inputs)

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