The Indian Army shows interest in purchasing General Atomics Avenger UAVs. The request from the Indian Army for the UAVs was one of the items discussed in June 2017 when the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis met with the Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Avenger UAV (Picture source: General Atomics)

The U.S. administration has already started their internal processing for 100 armed drones for the Indian Air Force (IAF), as reported by Huma Siddiqi on The Financial Times. The Avenger (formerly Predator C) is an unmanned aerial vehicle built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the U.S. Army. Its first flight occurred on 4 April 2009. Unlike the previous MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) drones, the Avenger is powered by a turbofan engine, and its design includes stealth features such as internal weapons storage, and an S-shaped exhaust for reduced infrared and radar signatures.

The critical Category One UAV technology for the Indian Navy’s request for the Sea Guardian Unmanned Aerial Systems deal of $ 2 bn has already been released by the Trump administration. In 2016, the navy had sent a request letter for 22 Sea Guardians to the American company. The Sea Guardian is exported to a very few select countries by the US administration and India will soon be joining that group.

The two countries have inked the logistics exchange memorandum of agreement (LEMOA), which is one of the foundational agreements in 2016, and in September this year has inked the ‘Communications, Compatibility, Security Agreement (COMCASA)’ which will allow transfer of encrypted communication security equipment from the US to India. These platforms include C-130 J, C-17, P-8I aircraft, and Apache and Chinook helicopters. However, India has yet to sign Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).