By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, February 2: The US State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs announced on Thursday that the State Department has made a determination approving a possible sale to India of MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of US$ 3.99 billion.
The Defence Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on Thursday (See: https://www.dsca.mil/press-media/major-arms-sales/india-mq-9b-remotely-piloted-aircraft).
The agency said: “The Government of India had requested to buy thirty-one MQ-9B Sky Guardian aircraft; one hundred sixty-one Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs); thirty-five L3 Rio Grande Communications Intelligence Sensor Suites; one hundred seventy AGM-114R Hellfire missiles; sixteen M36E9 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM); three hundred ten GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs (LSDB); and eight GBU-39B/B LSDB Guided Test Vehicles (GTVs) with live fuses.”
“Also included are Certifiable Ground Control Stations; TPE-331-10-GD engines; M299 Hellfire missile launchers; KIV-77 cryptographic appliques and other Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) equipment; KOR-24A Small Tactical Terminals (STT); AN/SSQ-62F, AN/SSQ-53G, and AN/SSQ-36 sonobuoys; ADU-891/E Adapter Group Test Sets; Common Munitions Built-In-Test (BIT) Reprogramming Equipment (CMBRE); GBU-39B/B tactical training rounds, Weapons Load Crew Trainers, and Reliability Assessment Vehicles-Instrumented; Portable Pre-flight/Post-flight Equipment (P3E); CCM-700A encryption devices; KY-100M Narrowband/wideband terminals; KI-133 cryptographic units; AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loaders; Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders; ROVER 6Si and TNR2x transceivers; MR6000 ultra high frequency (UHF) and very high frequency (VHF) radios; Selex SeaSpray Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) surveillance radars; HISAR-300 Radars; SNC 4500 Auto Electronic Surveillance Measures (ESM) Systems; SAGE 750 ESM systems; Due Regard Radars (DRR); MX-20 Electro-Optical Infrared (EO-IR) Laser Target Designators (LTDs); Ku-Band SATCOM GAASI Transportable Earth Stations (GATES); C-Band Line-of-Sight (LOS) Ground Data Terminals; AN/DPX-7 IFF transponders; Compact Multi-band Data Links (CMDL); initial spare and repair parts, consumables, accessories, and repair and return support; secure communications, precision navigation, and cryptographic equipment; munitions support and support equipment; testing and integration support and equipment; classified and unclassified software delivery and support; classified and unclassified publications and technical documentation; personnel training and training equipment; transportation support; warranties; studies and surveys; U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical, and logistics support services; and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated total cost is US $3.99 billion.”
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-Indian strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defence partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.”
“The proposed sale will improve India’s capability to meet current and future threats by enabling unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in sea lanes of operation. India has demonstrated a commitment to modernizing its military and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.”
“The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region. There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defence readiness as a result of this proposed sale,” the agency said.
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