Drone leased from the US by Indian Navy crashes into Bay of Bengal

An MQ-9B Sea Guardian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which was leased by the Indian Navy from the United States suffered a technical failure and crashed into the Bay of Bengal near Chennai, the Navy said.

The remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) which is unsalvageable, is a high-altitude, long endurance drone was on a surveillance mission when it made an emergency landing in water.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the Navy said, "A high-altitude long endurance remotely piloted aircraft (HALE RPA) leased by the Indian Navy operating from INS Rajali, Arakkonam (near Chennai) encountered a technical failure at about 1400 hours whilst on a routine surveillance mission which could not be reset in flight."

"The aircraft was navigated to a safe area oversea and carried out a controlled ditching at sea off Chennai."

In 2020, the Indian Navy had leased two MQ-9Bs which are a variant of the Predator B drones developed by a US company General Atomics.

The drones which are aimed at boosting surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities across the Indian Ocean, have been operating from the Naval Air Station Rajali in Tamil Nadu.

The Navy also said that Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of General Atomics will be replacing the crashed UAV with another one for the lease.

The incident has occurred at a time when India has been planning to procure 31 MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones from the US.

The anticipated cost of this deal is approximately Rs 33,368 crore ($3.99 billion). Describing the collaboration with India as one of significant importance, the United States asserted that this proposed sale is aimed at bolstering maritime security for the country.

The 31 MQ-9B drones will come with all paraphernalia, including 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 16 M36E9 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles, 310 GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs (LSDB).

(With DHNS inputs)