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on Jun 20, 2023)Last week, India’s Defence Acquisition Council greenlit the estimated $3.5 billion procurement of 31 high-altitude, long-endurance Predator-B drones from the US. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are expected to significantly upgrade India’s surveillance and strategic operations capabilities. Here’s a quick guide to the Predator and India’s own drone programme.
What are Predator drones?
They are to drones what, say, Porsches are to cars. These high-precision surveillance and combat drones were developed by San Diego-based defence contractor General Atomics. They were the first drones to carry video cameras. Their first job was only surveillance. Famously, it was a Predator drone that identified Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan in 2000. It was shortly after 9/11 that the first armed Predators with the fearsome Hellfire missiles appeared.Fighter planes minus pilots Today’s Predators are far superior to their early versions. The Predator MQ9A ‘Reaper’, first flown in 2001, has an endurance of over 27 hours, can operate up to 50,000 feet and has a 1,746kg payload capacity. But later variants like the MQ-9B SkyGuardian and MQ-9B SeaGuardian – the types India is interested in – are designed to fly via satellite for 30 to 40-plus hours in all kinds of weather with payloads in excess of 2,000 kg.
The SeaGuardian can even integrate an anti-submarine warfare mission kit, enhancing maritime search and patrol capabilities. This has significant implications for India in the light of the growing strategic competition with China over the sea lanes of the Indo-Pacific.
A ‘Star-Studded’ ops listWhat really adds to the Predator’s reputation is its long list of high-profile operations. It has seen extensive deployment in Afghanistan and Iraq and was reportedly used by American forces to take out al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Iranian General Qasim Soleimani. So, think Predators when considering a surgical strike. The Predator remains unmatched in its category. The closest equivalent is China’s Cai Hong-4, but that drone has run into trouble in recent years with both Jordan and Iraq facing performance and maintenance issues with it. Also, the Predator is very different from the growing category of loitering munition or kamikaze drones like AeroVironment’s Switchblade or Iran’s Shahed-136. These drones can carry out either a swarm attack or precision hits, but with minimum resources. So they need to be relatively inexpensive, since many need to be used. In contrast, the Predator can be used for multiple high-calibre operations over longer lifespans
India’s tryst with dronesWhile drones are not new to Indian security forces, they were largely seen as a complementary platform to the services. For example, IAF has long operated the Israel-made loitering munition Harpy and its upgraded version the Harop. These can loiter for up to six hours and carry a 23kg warhead. But India’s own drone manufacturing capabilities are low grade, despite its domestic expertise in IT. Notwithstanding years of research, India hasn’t been able to deliver a drone platform akin to Turkiye’s Bayraktar TB2, which Ukrainian forces used effectively against the Russian army in the earlier part of the Ukraine war
Desi drones under development include the Tapas-BH-201, which has been integrated with the indigenous Gagan satellite navigation system but faces engine issues. The Ghatak is analogous to the Bayraktar TB2 and will be armed with missiles and precision-hit capability. The prototype is expected in 2024-25. The Netra is a lightweight (1.5 kg) drone for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance developed by DRDO and Mumbai-based IdeaForge, representing a successful public-private venture.
It has already been deployed across the three services, providing a foundation for future lightweight drone development. So, while desi drones may make waves in the future, right now the acquisition of Predators will be a huge step up for India. And having those toys around should hopefully speed up DRDO’s R&D as well.
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