GUARDIANS OF THE SUBCONTINENT

THE ARMED FORCES ARE NEGOTIATING A $3 BILLION DEAL TO ACQUIRE 30 US-MADE MQ-9B DRONES. THE INDIA-CHINA MILITARY STANDOFF HAS ACCELERATED THIS REQUIREMENT

- SANDEEP UNNITHAN

FLOATING IN THE SKY THOUSANDS of feet above the Indian Ocean, two cruciform-shaped Sea Guardian drones have widened the horizon of New Delhi’s security establishment. Over the past nine months, these unblinking aerial eyes have transmitted real-time crystal-clear images of Chinese and Pakistani warships operating around the Indian peninsula to video screens at the naval war room in New Delhi.

The Indian Navy had leased the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones last year from US firm General Atomics. Taking off from a naval airbase in Arakkonam, 77 km west of Chennai, the satellite-steered drones have flown over 5,000 hours, clocking an average of over 12 hours a day, over a wide swathe from the Gulf of Aden to the Malacca Strait. Their 20-metre wingspan, as wide as a cricket pitch, has nine weapon stations called ‘hard-points’, which can carry two tonnes of electronics and weapons. A high-definition electro-optical/ infra-red sensor can capture still and video images at extended ranges, a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can build up pictures of geographical features, a maritime patrol radar can detect targets on the sea surface, and an inverse SAR can detect, image and classify objects such as warships over 300 km away.

The drones can also carry sonobuoys to drop in the ocean and track and hunt submarines with torpedoes, and strike warships with anti-ship missiles. The Sea Guardians also have big data analysing algorithms in their ground control stations, which allow for analysis of vast quantities of raw data. “It’s a game changer,” says a senior armed forces official. “It ushers India’s armed forces into a new era of drone warfare.”