MQ-9B drone deal: Biden administration notifies US Congress on proposed sale to India

New Delhi: The Biden administration on Thursday notified the US Congress on its proposed supply of 31 MQ-9B Predator long endurance drones to India, in a significant forward movement to firm up the mega deal that was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in June last year.

The Defence Security Cooperation Agency of the US government delivered the required certification notifying the Congress of this possible sale today, an American readout said.

People familiar with the matter said the Congressional notification process started on Thursday and a letter of approval will be sent to India after around 30 days following the approval to the procurement by the Congress.

"The State Department has made a determination approving a possible foreign military sale to the Government of India of MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of USD 3.99 billion," the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) of the US government said in a note.

"The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale today," it said.

The people cited above said the figure of USD 3.99 billion was mentioned only to ensure that the cost does not exceed this threshold.

There will be price negotiations after the letter of approval (LoA) is given to India.

The DSCA said the proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the US by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defence partner.

It described India as an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.

"The proposed sale will improve India's capability to meet current and future threats by enabling unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in sea lanes of operation," the DSCA said.

It said India has demonstrated a commitment to modernising its military and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.

"The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region," it said.

"The principal contractor will be General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Poway, CA. The purchaser typically requests offsets. Any offset agreement will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor," it said.

Earlier, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the US has its internal processes in place for such supplies and New Delhi is respectful of that.

"This particular matter relates to the US side. They have their internal processes in place and we are respectful of that. That is where I would like to leave my comment," he said at a media briefing.

His comments came in response to a volley of questions on the timeline for the US Congressional approval as well as a media report that said Washington blocked the drone sale to India until New Delhi carries out a thorough probe into an Indian link to the failed plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

American and India government officials have been holding a series of negotiations on the proposed procurement after Washington responded to New Delhi's Letter of Request (LoR) for acquisition of the platforms from US defence major General Atomics (GA).

India is procuring the long-endurance 'hunter-killer' drones to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

The proposed procurement figured in US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin's talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh in Delhi in November.

The Defence Acquisition Council headed by Singh on June 15 last year accorded the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) or initial approval for acquisition of 31 MQ-9B drones from the US under the foreign military sale (FMS) route.

While the Navy will get 15 Sea Guardian drones, the Indian Air Force and the Army will each get eight Sky Guardian drones.

The high-altitude long-endurance drones are capable of remaining airborne for over 35 hours and can carry four Hellfire missiles and around 450 kg of bombs.

The Sea Guardian drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and over-the-horizon targeting among others.

In 2020, the Indian Navy had taken on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for a period of one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean. The lease period has been extended subsequently.