Stage is all set for the Ministry of Defence to issue Letter of Request (LOR) to the US to initiate the process for the procurement of 31 MQ-9B armed High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles next month.
Sources in the defence and security establishment have confirmed that the LoR will be sent next month to start the process for the procurement of the drones for the Indian Armed Forces.
Financial Express Online has reported earlier the steps to be taken before the procurement of the MQ-9B UAVs is initiated.
Since the drones will be procured through the Foreign Military Sales Route of the US, a LoR is sent indicating the details of the equipment and terms of the procurement and also the requirements of the three services.
This will then be followed by a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) which will be formulated by the US and the Ministry of Defence. This letter will give details of the equipment and also the terms of the procurement which will be negotiated and later finalized based on the FMS process and also the terms and price offered by the US based company and the administration to other countries.
Indigenous Content
The announcement for acquiring 31 MQ-9B UAVs was made at the end of talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President Joe Biden last week in Washington DC.
Both sides are still in discussions to increase the indigenous content and sourcing in the UAVs which are considered to be the world’s best.
Presently, the proposed indigenous content in the MQ-9B deal stands at 8-9 percent. However, India hopes to elevate this figure to 15-20 percent by engaging in productive discussions with General Atomics and securing approval from the US government. Senior officials from the Defence Ministry reveal that manufacturing some components locally and scaling up the production capacity is being explored. General Atomics is actively engaging with various Indian companies as part of the deal.
What exactly will be the indigenous components is not clear, however, according to sources the two sides are looking at the possibility of producing key elements such as electronics, sensors, and avionics for the UAVs.
Pricing
On Sunday the Ministry of Defence debunked reports related to the costs of the MQ-9B drones and in an official statement said that the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) which was approved by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) had stated estimated cost of USD 3,072 million (one million=10 lakh) as provided by the US administration and this has yet to be negotiated.
Out of the 31 MQ-9B drones, 15 are for the India Navy (SeaGuardian Drones) and both Air Force and the Army will get eight each (SkyGuardian Drones).