India
The Predator deal was cleared on July 30 by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), The defence ministry will be reaching out to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for the required formalities that will end up in the signing of the much-awaited Predator drone deal.
The Defence Ministry will be approaching the Finance Ministry for the expenditure approval before getting the final stamp from CCS. This all needs to be wrapped up before October 31 or else there will be price fluctuations from the manufacturer.
The Modi government is purchasing 31 MQ 9B drones with air-to-surface missiles and laser-guided bombs from General Atomics on a government-to-government basis. Out of the 31 drones, 16 will help the Indian Navy to ensure maritime security in the Indo-Pacific, eight will be with the Indian Army and the remaining eight will be with the Indian Air Force for tailored strike missions across the land borders.
It is understood that the manufacturer briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his delegation on the capability and capacity of the drone during his visit to the US in August. The Predator drone has a proven record in the Middle East and Afghanistan when it comes to precision bombing and taking out high-value targets.
With the use of stand-off weapons like armed drones increasing as seen in the Ukraine and Gaza conflicts, India needs to acquire this capability as non-asymmetric groups like Houthis and Hezbollah have also started using them to target international shipping and Israel respectively.
The acquisition of armed drones has become a priority for India as China and its supplicant state Pakistan are operating CH-4 weaponized unmanned aerial vehicles with Beijing selling these platforms to Rawalpindi
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