MQ-9 - DEFENCE & SECURITY
News: India
to buy Predator UAVs from the US: Capabilities, countries which use them
What's in the news?
● Defence
Acquisition Council (DAC) approved the procurement of armed Predator Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAV) from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), an
aeronautics company based in the United
States.
Key takeaways:
● As
per GA-ASI, the MQ-9 UAV has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS,
can operate up to 50,000 feet, and has a 3,850pound (1,746 kilograms) payload
capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms) of external stores.
MQ-9:
● MQ-9
UAV provides long-endurance, persistent
surveillance, and strike capability for the warfighter.
Importing from - US
Key features:
● As
per GA-ASI, the MQ-9 UAV has an endurance of over 27 hours, speeds of 240 KTAS,
can operate up to 50,000 feet, and has a 3,850pound (1,746 kilograms) payload
capacity that includes 3,000 pounds (1,361 kilograms) of external stores.
● The
aircraft’s manufacturer also says that it can carry 500 percent more payload
and has nine times the horsepower in comparison to the earlier MQ-1 Predator.
Maritime Variant:
● The
maritime variant of the MQ-9 UAV, known as Sea
Guardian, has an endurance of over 30 hours.
Significance:
● Once
delivered and employed, these High-Altitude Long Endurance drones can carry out
and boost the Indian Armed Force's Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance
(ISR) capabilities.
● Armed
with payloads, the weaponized UAV will be able to strike strategic targets in
mountains and the maritime domain during long-endurance missions.
● As
per the USAF, MQ-9 UAV is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection
asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.
● It
can also undertake close air support, combat search and rescue, precision
strike, buddy-lase, convoy and raid overwatch, route clearance, target
development, and terminal air guidance.
Which of the other countries use the MQ-9 UAV?
● As
per GA-ASI, the MQ-9 UAV has been acquired by the US Air Force, the US
Department of Homeland Security, NASA, the Royal Air Force, the Italian Air Force, the French Air Force and the Spanish Air Force.