Arm the allies: India might become first country out of NATO to buy armed drones from the US

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Arm the allies: India might become first country out of NATO to buy armed drones from the US
  • The armed Guardian drones being offered to India were earlier used only for surveillance purposes.
  • In return, US insists that India sign a ‘prying’ communications framework.
  • The drones might also become the first high-tech unmanned aircraft in a region where Indo-Pak tensions are really high.
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USA has offered India armed Guardian drones which were originally sold weaponless, only for surveillance purposes. The drones are on the agenda for a meeting between Indian and the US that is scheduled to take place soon. Though the meeting was formerly set for July, it has now been postponed to September.

This is a result of the long-awaited policy, that Trump rolled out in April, aimed at expanding the exports of US-made arms to their allies. A major part of the policy allows lethal missile drones, and surveillance drones of all sizes, to be more widely available.

This, Trump believes, might strengthen the American defense industry and create jobs in the country. The US drone manufacturers have lobbied hard for these changes since they have been facing growing competition, especially from Chinese and Israeli rivals, who often have lighter restrictions in their market.

Some, however, believe that the “cost” of this deal might be too high as the US has been insisting that India sign a ‘prying’ communications framework - the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) - as a condition for operating advanced defense systems.

And the doubt comes up because many see this deal as a threat to the large amount of Russian equipment being used by the Indian military already and, in an extension, to Indo-Russian ties. This agreement with the US might also deter India’s Non-Alignment policy. However, after the US assured that the agreement would apply largely to US-procured weapons systems such as fighter planes and drones, India has agreed to move forward.

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Till last June, India has been in talks to buy 22 unarmed naval-variant surveillance aircrafts, MQ-9B Guardian, worth more than ₹138.13 billion ($2 billion) to keep a watch over the Indian Ocean.

However, India not only wants to keep an eye over a particular area but also wants to be able to hunt down targets over land and sea. The Indian military argued that even though the costs of acquisition were low, an unarmed drone would not serve the purpose and the cost and integration of a weapons system in the drone would still have been an issue.

However, after the US’ amendment in April, India was offered armed drones which could fit its requirements. The deal has now been revised to not only include the armed version of the drone but also to change the number of aircrafts to be exported.

If the deal is successful, it will be the first time that the US is selling an armed drone to a country not signed under NATO. It will also be the first high-tech unmanned aircraft in the Southeast Asian region surveying areas where Indo-Pak tensions are really high.
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