India Denies Predator UAV Purchase

India Denies Predator UAV Purchase

DAYTON, Ohio -- General Atomics RQ-1A Predator at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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The Indian government has denied any plans to purchase the US-developed Predator drones.

The statement comes as a surprise considering previous reports suggesting that India’s Minister of Defense, Manohar Parrikar, had issued a letter of request to the US mid-June expressing interest in procuring 22 multi-mission Predator Guardian unmanned aerial vehicles for the Indian Navy. The reports suggested that India would procure UAVs from the US via the Foreign Military Sales route.

According to sputniknews.com, India’s plans include purchasing more than 5,000 UAVs in the next 10 years. Currently, India has Israeli Searcher and Heron UAVs. Last month, India’s Ministry of Defense sent out a message waiting for response from key players in the industry for a deal regarding Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs for use by the three Indian defense services.

Meanwhile, India’s state sponsored Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO) is developing the Rustom II, a MALE UAV designed to operate up to 30,000 ft above sea level and has a range of up to 100 km. The manufacturing of the first batch of Rustom II’s is likely to be completed by February 2017.