MQ-9 Reaper Deal Almost Done: How It Will Help India Become 'Super Supremely Aware’ | In Our Defence

Recently, an MQ-9B Predator drone leased to the Indian Navy by the US crashed into the sea off the Chennai coast due to a failure of its power generators and onboard batteries.

It was leased from the American firm General Atomics and suffered a power generator and battery failure, leading to a "controlled ditching" into the sea off the Chennai coast.

What does "ditched in a controlled manner" mean, and is this crash a concern for India?

Besides, the US has also approved the sale of 31 MQ-9 B-armed drones to India at an estimated cost of USD 3.99 billion. The proposed mega drone deal was announced during PM Modi's state visit to the US in June 2023.

Under the deal, India will get 31 High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs, of which the Navy will get 15 SeaGuardian drones, while the Army and the Indian Air Force will get eight each of the land version – SkyGuardian.

But why did the deal take so long to finalise despite close diplomatic ties? Is leasing military equipment a viable long-term strategy for India? And is the deal worth it?

How can India improve centralised drone operations across its armed services?

Host Dev Goswami and defence expert Shiv Aroor unpack these, also discussing the crash in the context of India’s growing defence relationship with the U.S., particularly agreements like COMCASA, which facilitate secure communication and intelligence sharing.

Watch!

Produced by Anna Priyadarshini

You can also tune in here:

02:17—12:56—Family of the predator drone, Mq-9b reaper
12:56—22:28—Leasing from US; how does it work and why lease?
22:28—29:11—Is the crash even a cause of concern?
29:11—-37:48—Dealing with the US is a pain; media glare; bureaucracy
37:48—-45:47—COMCASA deal
45:47—54:32—Why India wants these drones?
54:32—58:15—Information harvested by these drones
58:15—1:03:51—How different is flying a drone

#IndiaUSDroneDeal #DroneDeal #MQ9BReaper #itwebvideos #IndianNavy #PredatorDrones #DroneCrash #USIndiaDefence #GeneralAtomics #LeasingDrones #MaritimeSecurity #DefenceProcurement #IndoPacific #DroneTechnology #SeaGuardian #SkyGuardian #MilitaryTech #USIndiaRelations #BureaucraticDelays #SurveillanceDrones #DroneWarfare #DefenceBureaucracy #DroneIntelligence #DroneCapabilities #COMCASA #ShivAroor, #DevGoswami, #Podcasts #InOurDefence

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[Olivre]

02:17—12:56—Family of the predator drone, Mq-9b reaper
12:56—22:28—Leasing from US; how does it work and why lease?
22:28—29:11—Is the crash even a cause of concern?
29:11—-37:48—Dealing with the US is a pain; media glare; bureaucracy
37:48—-45:47—COMCASA deal
45:47—54:32—Why India wants these drones?
54:32—58:15—Information harvested by these drones
58:15—1:03:51—How different is flying a drone

[nagababukoganti]

Guys, I appreciate the effort put into each episode, but the podcast often seems to drag out topics unnecessarily. It would be more engaging if you focused on delivering specific insights, especially those that aren’t readily available to the public. Lengthy discussions on points that are already intuitive can be counterproductive and may lose the audience’s interest. I suggest prioritizing the depth of content over the length of the podcast, offering more behind-the-scenes information or fresh perspectives on the topic. This approach could make the podcast more impactful and engaging.

[sudhanshushekhar]

Armed mq 9 lena chahiye n ki surveillance wala , pysa waste hoga agr un armed mq 9 lega too

[tstanmoysamanta]

Turkey can build those same quality drones for 1/10 of the cost that Pakistan already uses.

[rupampathak]

Can you please do an episode on S400, especially considering the rumours that Turkey might sell their S400 to US to get back into F35 program. Also why India keep on getting into deals with Russia even though Russia's stocks are going down rapidly. The "strategic autonomy" logic seems to be a redo of the non alignment period which didn't serve India well in hindsight.

[JackHr-hj]

This deal is the most crappiest deal of the century.The minute this drone is flown through pakistan or chineese airspace it get shot using its air defense system as its not a stealth drone or jet powered drone and crash history of this drone is worse.Insted of throwing away 4 billion dollars for this drone India should invest this in its 4th and 5th gen engine technology transfer.This sold in USA for 40 million dollar become more that 100 million to reach India

[himanshusingh]

If this so called advanced drone can't operate in hostile environment then what's point to buy such expensive product ? If millitia like Houthis can shot down these drone then why we're buying these drone to operate over China pak border who have proper airforce.

[neerajnarang]

The plain and simple thing is that even people now realise this deal is a strategic deal rather than a competitive purchase. We wanted US to behave and not be a nuisance in the neighborhood and internally through its proxies by way of farmer stir, congress etc which was not accomplished. Look at Punjab border. The so called depreived farmers have made pucca houses on national highways blocking it and there is orchestral impediment to Indian story by various elements like Pannu.. these would only get more bitter once US elections are over

[techtrek]

Please show pictures of what you are saying

[ahih]

Poorest country Yemen destroyed it today

[Red.bulldozer]

My worry is whether indians can handle and maintain these expensive war toys

Recently it was reported a US made drone crashed during routine exercise

[tstanmoysamanta]

more than 110 million dollars for a drone why? Could you tell me what purpose it serves?

[jdla]

One of the two leased MQ9B drone has crashed. Why India is acquiring these expensive drones which are accident prone?

[ashishmittal]

Guys you need to tighten this.. all this done in 20% lesser time would be much more engaging. Not telling you to reduce information or change format but don't repeat. Structure sentences and questions better..

Btw have seen all episodes till now and appreciate this podcast a lot

[s]

Note for your video editor: You are clipping shadows which is destroying your video output.

[kumarsuneet]

I see extensive use in non contested airspace. I mean it can carry out surveillance from within our airspace.

[patmclaughlin]

I was hoping to learn why these drones are hard to track. I may have to google it.

[Political-Me]

Why can't we develop our make in India drone are our engineers gov, private sector not capable to achieve this or do we only have corrupt people in defence sector who just play with the money of the defence budget and get in their pockets thats why they deal with foreign countried and companies so that the money corruption cannot be traced.

[shaheerrizwan]

Indian navy made a record by sinking MQ-9 sea gaurdian and just 85 Billion USD total waste of their public money