India's potential drone deal under spotlight: All about the MQ-9B SeaGuardian

The MQ-9B SeaGuardian suvelliance aircraft (Image Source: General Atomics Aeronautical Services)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Washington on June 22 has prompted the US State Department, Pentagon, and White House to refocus on the SeaGuardian drone that India had expressed interest in.

The US has asked India to show progress on the deal for as many as 30 arm able MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics, two sources told Reuters. General Atomics specialises in developing and manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance purposes.

India has long expressed interest in buying large armed drones from the United States. But bureaucratic stumbling blocks have hampered a hoped-for deal for SeaGuardian drones that could be worth $2 billion to $3 billion for years, the Reuters report adds.

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A sticking point could be that India is seeking for equipment components to be domestically manufactured. Notably, the country is at present leasing the MQ-9Bs as part of an intelligence-gathering operation.

So, what is a SeaGuardian drone? We explain.

The MQ-9B SeaGuardian is a drone satellite that can monitor the horizon for over 30 hours in all weathers. It can also safely integrate into civil airspace and monitor naval areas, as per information on the General Atomics Aeronautical Services website.

The patrolling device has in-built wide-area maritime radar, an automatic identification system, electronic support measures, and a self-contained anti-submarine warfare (ASW) kit.

Users can configure the MQ-9B to include sonobuoy management and control system (SMCS) and sonobuoy dispenser system (SDS), it added. It allows SeaGuardian operators to deploy, monitor and control sonobuoys from a single remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS). A sonobuoy detects underwater sounds and transmits them by radio.

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The SeaGuardian has 4 SDS pods enabling it to hold and dispense up to 40 ‘A’ size or 80 ‘G’ size sonobuoys. In its standard configuration, SeaGuardian’s range encompasses a mission radius of 1,200 nautical miles (~2222.4 km), says the website.

The website mentions that the SeaGuardian can be configured to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) maritime operations for disaster relief, search and rescue, law enforcement, anti- submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, airborne mine counter measures, long range strategic ISR, and over-the-horizon targeting among others.

The Quad grouping of countries — Australia, India, Japan and the US — all operate, or have operated, the MQ-9B SeaGuardian. Besides these, the US Air Force and US Customs and Border Protection, the Italian Air Force, and the Royal Air Force, Australia and Belgium have also expressed interest in the SeaGuardian, according to the UK Defence Journal.