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Insight: How India’s Tri-Service MQ-9B $4 billion deal was awarded

22nd October 2024 - 10:02 GMT | by Matty Todhunter in London

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In a Tweet by GA-ASI on 29 July 2021, the SeaGuardian was described as the SkyGuardian’s ‘salty sibling’. (Photo: GA-ASI)

After lengthy negotiations, the Indian Ministry of Defence has now signed a US$4 billion contract with the US Government to procure 31 MQ-9B drones from General Atomics, marking India as the largest customer of this UAV model.

After eight years of negotiations, the Indian MoD announced last week that it had signed a contract worth an estimated $4 billion with the US Government to procure 31 MQ-9Bs MALE UAVs from General Atomics (GA-ASI).

The contract award marked the culmination of lengthy negotiations with the US over acquiring GA-ASI drones, with the Indian Navy first enquiring about the MQ-9A Reaper in 2016. In June 2017, the US offered the Indian Navy 22 units of the then-new MQ-9B SeaGuardian aircraft, the successor of the Reaper. In 2018, the Indian Government expanded the infant programme into a tri-service acquisition, bringing in the Indian Army and Indian

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