Indian Navy has incorporated two Predator drones from a US company on lease. (Archive)
New Delhi:
In a sign of the growing closeness between India and the United States amid the conflict with China, the Indian Navy has installed two Predator drones from a US firm on lease to conduct surveillance in the Indian Ocean region and which may also be deployed to along the Royal Line of Control in eastern Ladakh.
Drones of American origin have been installed by the Navy under emergency acquisition powers granted by the Defense Ministry in light of the border conflict between India and China.
“The drones arrived in India in the second week of November and were admitted to flight operations on November 21 at the Indian Navy base in INS Rajali,” important government sources told ANI.
The drones have already started flight operations and with the endurance ability of being in the air for more than 30 hours, they are proving to be a great asset to the maritime force, they said. A US team from the supplier is also accompanying the team and would help the Navy operate the machines, the sources said.
The drones fly in Indian colors and would be leased from India for a year, even as the three services are preparing the case to acquire 18 more drones from the United States, the sources said.
India and the United States have been working closely during the ongoing conflict against Chinese aggression in eastern Ladakh, including assisting in surveillance and information sharing across all domains, the sources said.
The sources said the option to lease weapons systems has been provided under the Defense Procurement Procedure-2020 and Defense Procurement Manual -2009 and helps save funds and the responsibility for maintenance also rests with the provider, said the companies. sources.
Under the lease agreement, US support personnel will only assist with maintenance and technical issues, while departure planning and joystick control will be handled by Indian Navy personnel, the sources said.
The data collected by the drones during the flight would also be the sole property of the Indian Navy, the sources said.
The Indian armed forces have shown faith in American systems in recent years for their surveillance requirements, as the Indian Navy already has 9 P-8I long-range surveillance aircraft and would get another nine in the coming years.
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India and the United States have also signed the basic basic agreements for cooperation in the field of defense and national security.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is posted from a syndicated channel.)
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