The MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone leased by the Indian Navy from the US crashed in the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday due to a technical fault. This deadly drone used to monitor areas up to China. The Navy said in a statement that the incident occurred during a routine surveillance mission, in which the drone had to make an emergency landing (ditching) in the water. The drone can no longer be retrieved from the sea. It has been declared unusable.
The MQ-9B SeaGuardian, a variant of the Predator B manufactured by US-based General Atomics, was leased by the Indian Navy four years ago to enhance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The Navy was operating it from INS Rajali, Arkonam in Tamil Nadu.
“The High-Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft (HALE RPA) operated from INS Rajali, Arkonam experienced a technical malfunction during a routine surveillance mission at about 1400 hrs (2 pm) which could not be corrected during flight,” the Navy said. The drone was navigated to a safe area and then carried out a controlled ditching in the sea off the coast of Chennai. A detailed report on the incident has been sought and will be sought from General Atomics, the Navy said.
Under the lease, these drones were being operated by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to ensure wide-area surveillance for the Navy. Now the OEM will have to replace it with new drones to compensate for this loss. The MQ-9B drones have helped the Indian Navy to increase surveillance on China’s activities in the Indian Ocean region. These two drones together have completed more than 18,000 hours of flights.
This incident has happened at a time when India is in talks to buy 31 MQ-9B drones from the US. The deal is worth around US$3.1 billion. Apart from ISR, these drones will also be used for important tasks like electronic warfare, defensive counter air and airborne early warning.
The MQ-9B is the first military equipment leased by the Indian Army, and was done under the Government of India’s Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020, which allows leasing of military equipment to reduce the cost of procurement. The MQ-9B drones have a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet, can fly continuously for 40 hours, and have a range of over 5,000 nautical miles. The area that the Indian Navy monitors is quite vast, covering areas from the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca and from the northern Bay of Bengal to the southeastern coast of Africa.