Pair of UAVs will support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance activities.
New Delhi has entered an agreement with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to lease a pair of MQ-9B SeaGuardian uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs).
The two UAVs will serve with the Indian navy for a period of 30 months with the deal valued at INR19.4 billion ($214 million), says India’s defence ministry.
The ministry says that the assets will improve situational awareness in the in the Indian Ocean but does not state when the lease period will commence.
According to Indian media reports, the lease is a stopgap pending the arrival of 31 MQ-9B SeaGuardian and SkyGuardians that New Delhi ordered in October 2024.
This is not the first time India has leased General Atomics assets: in the early 2020s it took a pair of MQ-9As amid heightened tensions with China in Eastern Ladakh.
The post New Delhi leases two MQ-9Bs first appeared on FlightGlobal.