India is in an “advanced stage” of negotiations with the U.S. to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones for over $3 billion to crank up its surveillance apparatus along the frontier with China as well as in the Indian Ocean region, people familiar with the developments said on Sunday.
The MQ-9B drone is a variant of the MQ-9 “Reaper” which was used to launch a modified version of the Hellfire missile that eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul last month.
Authoritative sources in the defence establishment said talks between New Delhi and Washington are underway for the government-to-government procurement of the General Atomics-built drones, and rejected reports that the deal is off the table.
“We understand that the MQ-9B acquisition programme is at an advanced stage of discussion between the U.S. and Indian governments,” Dr. Vivek Lall, the Chief Executive for the General Atomics Global Corporation said.