Indian Navy drone crashes: On Wednesday, a MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone leased by the Indian Navy from the US crashed into the Bay of Bengal near Chennai due to a mechanical malfunction. According to the Indian Navy, the drone was operating from the INS Rajali naval air station in Arakkonam, near Chennai.
The MQ-9B Sea Guardian is a long-duration, high-altitude drone that is commonly utilized for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance activities.
The Indian Navy leased two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones, a derivative of the Predator B manufactured by General Atomics in the USA, in 2020 to improve its intelligence-gathering, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities in the Indian Ocean. The lease was initially for a year, but it has already been renewed. Drones have begun flying from the Rajali Naval Air Station in Tamil Nadu.
Indian Navy requested a thorough report
“A high-altitude, lengthy remotely piloted aircraft leased by the Indian Navy operated from INS Rajali, Arakonnam encountered an operational problem at about 2 pm while on a normal surveillance mission which was unable to reset in flight,” according to the Indian Navy’s statement.
“The aircraft was navigated to a suitable area oversea to carry out a controlled ditching at sea off Chennai,” according to the report. The Navy has requested a complete investigation from the original equipment manufacturer.
Notably, controlled ditched typically refers to an emergency landing of an airplane on water.
India wants to buy 31 MQ-9B The Predator drones.
General Atomics operated and maintained the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones in accordance with the lease agreement. As part of the agreement, the corporation is obligated to replace the lost drone with another.
This incident occurred during India’s current purchase procedure for 31 MQ-9B Predator drones, which are expected to improve the military forces’ surveillance capabilities, particularly near the country’s disputed border with China. In June last year, the Defence Ministry approved the acquisition of these drones from the United States under a government-to-government arrangement for a total cost of roughly USD 3 billion.
The MQ-9B is a derivative of the MQ-9 “Reaper,” which was notable for launching a modified Hellfire missile that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul in July 2022.
The drone was directed to a safe location for the emergency landing at sea, which resulted in no injuries. However, Navy sources stated that the $150 million drone is unsalvageable and will be written off. The military has requested a thorough investigation by the drone’s manufacturer, General Atomics, to discover the root cause of the failure.
Under the lease agreement, General Atomics is responsible for drone maintenance and will replace the lost unit to meet the Navy’s operational requirements.
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