Indian Navy inducts two American Predator drones on lease

The Indian Navy has leased two Predator drones from an American firm for carrying out surveillance in the Indian Ocean Region, a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday – in a sign of closer defence and security cooperation between India and the US.

The drones that can stay airborne for about 36 hours and can cruise upto a height of 40,000 feet could also be used for surveillance along India’s land borders including in Ladakh where Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation since May.

The drones would be on lease to India for a year, the person cited above said.

According to an ANI report, the drones were brought to India in the second week of November and inducted into flying operations on 21 November.” Mint could not independently verify this. An American maintenance team from the company that supplied the drone is helping the Indian navy operate the drones, the ANI report quoting unnamed sources said.

India’s latest Defence Acquisition Procedure unveiled recently allows the military to lease platforms and weapon systems which is aimed at saving valuable resources.

India and the US have been steadily increasing the defence and security cooperation in recent years – a far cry from the days of the Cold War when the two countries were seen on opposite sides and their ties riddled with suspicion and mistrust. In recent months, since India’s standoff with China began in May, the US has fast tracked the dispatch of AH-64 Apache helicopters – a sign of how far ties have come.

In October India and the US signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation that allows India to access geospatial information, including nautical and aeronautical charts. The complete data, supplemented by highly accurate US satellites, will help in navigation as well as targeting military assets.