The Government of India has approved two major Indian defence procurements related to the purchase of 31 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) to meet a tri-service requirement, along with the procurement of two indigenously built nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) for the Indian Navy.

The approval for both procurements was accorded by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CC), which is led by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The MQ-9B is a next generation RPAS being acquired to meet a tri-service Indian need for an unmanned Intelligence, Surveillance, And Reconnaissance (ISR) asset.

The Indian Air Force and the Indian Army will receive eight SKY GUARDIANs each, while the navy will receive 15 SEA GUARDIANs. The acquisition of the High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) RPAS’ has moved quickly by the standard of Indian defence procurement. The Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the procurement was approved in June 2023 by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) which is headed by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The U.S. State Department then cleared the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of the MQ-9Bs to India in February 2024. With CCS approval now being granted, a formal contract is expected to be concluded by next year. The deal for 31 MQ-9Bs is expected to be worth approximately US$3.07 billion.

The RPAS will be armed with AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs. The Indian Navy has been operating two MQ-9 RPAS’ under lease from GA-ASI since November 2020. In September this year, one of these  was lost at sea.

Prime Minister Modi has also approved the construction of two new nuclear-powered attack submarines, which will be built in India at an estimated cost of Rs 400 billion (US$ 4.88 billion). The new SSNs will be built under the navy’s Project 77 designation with a total of six slated to be built over the course of the programme. The new SSNs are to be built at the Ship Building Center, Visakhapatnam, where India’s nuclear submarines are built. The first of these SSNs is slated for delivery in the mid-2030s.

The Indian Navy presently operates two nuclear-powered Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBN), namely the INS Arihant and INS Arighaat which are in the 6,000 tonne class. The INS Arighaat was commissioned into service this August, while INS Arihant entered service in August 2016.

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