Washington: The discussions on the sale of 30 Predator armed drones by the United States to India are at an advanced stage, according to reports.
The US will sell 30 Predator armed drones to India, the first to a non-NATO ally, at an estimated cost of USD 3 billion, PTI reported multiple sources as confirming.
The Predator/MQ9B acquisition program of 30 aircraft is at an advanced stage of discussion between the two sides.
“It is a capability that operationalises the Major Defence Partner status that has been worked on for several years through the various foundational agreements and India's insertion into the MTCR,” governmental sources told the news agency.
“India will be the first non-NATO partner to receive this capability,” the sources added.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the sources denied having any knowledge of the deal being put on the back-burner by India, PTI reported.
To be manufactured by General Atomics, these state-of-the-art drones have no match in the defence industry.
Although the process has been slow primarily due to the bureaucracy in the nations, the Indian armed forces have leased two surveillance Predators from General Atomics.
Sources further said these drones have emerged as a valuable surveillance asset for conducting reconnaissance of India’s maritime and land borders with China and Pakistan, adding they have been receiving very good feedback from New Delhi in this regard.
These drones, which will add to New Delhi’s growing inventory of US-made military equipment that includes attack helicopters, submarine-hunting aircraft and assault rifles, have the ability to carry out long-range precision air strikes.
Six years of negotiations between the two governments at the highest levels have taken place in this regard, governmental sources told PTI.
Earlier, the US had as an exception cleared the offering of this armed capability to the first non-NATO ally.
The defence procurement board of India's Ministry of Defence had met on this and cleared it late last year.
Another governmental source told the news agency that the next step is receiving a letter of request.
This major defence deal was announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House earlier in 2017 under the previous Donald Trump administration.
Subsequently, the two sides have intensified the discussions and increased the number of such drones to be sold to India from 10 to 30, which includes 10 each for the army, air force and navy.