US' MQ-9B Drones Better For Navy Than Indigenous TAPAS, Says Vice Chief

Indian Navy Vice Chief, Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan Tuesday said any kind of settlement with China resolving the ongoing border standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) 'makes us happy'

New Delhi: Indian Navy Vice Chief, Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan Tuesday said the MQ-9B reaper drones made by US defence conglomerate General Atomics will “fulfil” the need for surveillance of wide oceanic space and other requirements of the Navy in the maritime domain in which the indigenously made TAPAS has failed.

TAPAS (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It is also referred to as TAPAS-BH-201 and is part of the larger Rustom family of drones, designed to meet the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) needs of the Indian armed forces.

However, certain performance issues and capability mismatches led to the rejection of TAPAS by the Navy for their specific requirements.

“The TAPAS drone project is a project of the DRDO and it was made with a lot of investment of intellectual capital. It was one of the first drones that were made in India. We have a drone which is called the MQ-9B which is a huge drone and we use it for maritime surveillance. Our requirements are quite different from the requirements of the Army and the Air Force,” Vice Chief said, responding to a question by ABP Live.  

The Vice Chief was speaking to the media at the curtain raiser event of Navy’s annual ‘Swavlamban’ seminar aimed at showcasing innovation and indigenisation efforts of the armed forces.

The Vice Chief said, “We need anything that does maritime surveillance and maritime surveillance for us necessarily has to be over wide areas in the ocean. So in a way the TAPAS drones in its current form do not entirely meet our requirements and therefore we have had to go to the Government of India for the induction of MQ-9B which the government allowed us to do.”

Last week, the US and India signed a deal worth $4 billion to procure 31 MQ-9B Predator drones for the Indian armed forces. Out of this, 15 will be allocated to the Indian Navy, while the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force will get eight units each.

The deal to purchase Predator drones called ‘SkyGuardian’ and ‘SeaGuardian’ – both  variants of MQ-9B was being negotiated between India and the United States under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme of the US Department of Defence.

The Vice Chief also said while the TAPAS has “very good capability” it needs to be “fine-tuned” according to the needs of the Indian Navy. He also admitted that for any item to have combat capability many “versions and variants” need to be made.

He also said the Navy will continue to give its feedback to DRDO for the TAPAS project for it to be able to meet the expectations of the force.

“We hope the next version of TAPAS will be much better … We look forward to that day when we can make such drones like the MQ-9B and maybe TAPAS is the right way to go,” said Swaminathan.

India-China LAC Development ‘Makes Us Happy’

The Vice Chief of Naval Staff also said the force was “happy” to learn that India and China have been able to come to an understanding to resolve the 2020 border crisis.

"In national security issues, it is not easy to come to any kind of a settlement. It's not easy, because there are views, there are perceptions, there are emotive issues. There are land issues and there are national security considerations. So, at one time you address several elements of national consciousness. You go and talk, negotiate,” he said.

He also said, “So, if you come to any kind of settlement, I don't know what the details are, and I don't even need to know it, but I know there is some kind of settlement, and all of us are happy.”

This comes after the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri told the media that India and China have been able to agree to a “patrolling arrangement” of sorts at the eastern Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Meanwhile, at a separate event Army Chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi Tuesday said India and China are “trying to restore the trust” that got eroded due the ongoing border standoff for the past four years and making an attempt to “reassure each other”.

“We want to go back to the status quo of April 2020. Thereafter, we will be looking at disengagement, de-escalation and normal management of Line of Actual Control. And, this normal management of the LAC will not just start there. There are phases in that also,” the Army chief said.

“So, this is what I am saying. This has been our stance since April 2020…and even today remains the same. So, as of now, we are trying to restore the trust. How will the trust get restored? It will get restored once we are able to see each other and we are able to convince each other, look at the buffer zones which have been created … both have to reassure each other. Patrolling gives you that kind of advantage…As we restore the trust, the other phases will also follow through,” he underlined.