While the government is tight-lipped about the entire project, it is understood that the multi-billion dollar acquisition is now before the CCS headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after obtaining approvals from the Finance Ministry and inter-ministerial consultations.

The acquisition of 31 Predator drones armed with Hellfire missiles, GBU-39B precision-guided bombs and high-fire rotary cannon, has been spearheaded by the Indian Navy. Out of the 31 drones, 16 will be given to the Indian Navy and eight each to the Indian Army and Indian Air Force respectively.

While some of the 31 acquired drones will be assembled locally with 30 percent of components sourced from Indian industries, the unmanned vehicle will not have any DRDO-developed missile as the cost of integrating a missile is prohibitive with no guarantees.

The Predator drone will be a game-changer in the region as the platform has high endurance, high altitude and lethal weapons to take the fight to the enemy in the ‘hunter-killer’ role. The surveillance footage from the Predator drone is said to be better than that obtained from Boeing P 8 I aircraft and will raise Indian maritime domain awareness from Gulf of Aden to Sunda Straits to the next level.

While the Indian Air Force and Indian Army will use the drone for taking out critical infrastructure and high value targets in the worst case scenario, the Indian Navy will use the armed drone for not only keeping a watch on dark shipping but also destroying vessels carrying arms and drugs on high seas in the Indo-Pacific. The Predator drone will also deter Chinese spy ships, which are in the Indian Ocean virtually round the year.

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Fact is that India has no options but to go for US drones as DRDO’s indigenous project was delayed and China had top of the line armed drones in its inventory apart from passing on the platform to Pakistan.