According to a report by NDTV, the MQ-9B drone has been developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI). It is a variant of the MQ-9 “Reaper”, which is used by the US Air Force.
MQ-9B can be flown for a longer duration and at higher altitudes. According to the report, it can fly for 40 hours at an altitude of more than 40 thousand feet. It is believed that these will be kept for surveillance on the India-China border.
Along with surveillance, these drones are also capable of defending the country. MQ-9B can be equipped with missiles. It can destroy enemy targets by targeting them from a height. It can be used for maritime surveillance. It can be used in submarine wars.
There are two variants of the MQ-9B drone. First- SkyGuardian and second- SeaGuardian. The Indian Navy has been using SeaGuardian since 2020. The specialty of the MQ-9B is that it can take off and land on its own. It can fly at any time of the day or night. It can carry up to 5670 kg of goods with it and can fly with 2771 kg of fuel.
According to the report, the deal is said to be worth around $3.99 billion, which includes 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 310 GBU-39B/B bombs, etc.
