India and U.S. Seal $3.5 Billion Armed UAVs Deal

• India and the U.S. have finalized a $3.5 billion deal for 31 MQ-9B armed High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
• The deal includes 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 16 M36E9 Hellfire captive air training missiles, 310 GBU-39B/B laser Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), and 08 GBU-39B/B LSDB guided test vehicles.
• These advanced UAVs will significantly enhance India’s Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.
• As part of the deal, General Atomics will establish a Global Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India.
• Another high-profile deal pending with the U.S. is the local license manufacture of General Electric (GE) F414 jet engines by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) -Mk1A.

Source: The Hindu