By Logan Williams, Warrior Editorial Fellow
On February 1st, the Biden Administration approved a $4-billion sale of 31 MQ-9B “Reaper” hunter-killer drones, with 170 “Hellfire” missiles, 310 small-diameter munitions, as well as other related materials — such as anti-submarine equipment and radars for mission-specific use.
These drones are manufactured by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the company responsible for the design of the infamous MQ-1 “Predator” drone, which saw extensive service during the United States’ interventions in the Middle East.
In fact, the Reaper was designed as a replacement for the Predator drone, but with greater range, endurance, strike capacity, and other various upgrades. Notably, the Reaper drone can carry double the number of Hellfire missiles or other small munitions, compared to its lightly-armed predecessor, which could only carry a maximum of two missiles or other munitions.
These MQ-9 “Reaper” drones come in two variations: The SkyGuardian and the SeaGuardian. These two variants largely defer based upon the mission-specific equipment that is attached to the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). These UAV’s are specifically designed for “bolt-on, bolt-off” customizability with different technology and armaments, for maximum functionality in a large variety of missions.
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India has some experience with these American-made drones.
In November 2020, after a series of clashes between Indian and Chinese forces, due to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s ludicrous and imperial claims on Indian territory, India leased two of these drones from the United States. These drones would eventually accumulate over 12,000 hours of service, together.
The extensive use that these drones received, obviously indicates that the leased drones covered a deficiency in the Indian military’s defensive and offensive capabilities — a deficiency that will be eliminated by this sale.
Indeed, the Modi Government has even requested that the United States expedite the conclusion of the sale, and the delivery of requisite materials, due to the increased challenges and threats within India’s near abroad.
Certainly, some of these threats emerge from India’s approximate 2,500 kilometers of coastline on the Arabian Sea – a region which grows more unstable by the day – and the Indian Lackshadweep Islands 200 kilometers off India’s mainland, in the Arabian Sea.
India has independently deployed its massive military might into the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandal Strait.
India has acted as the de facto policeman of the Red Sea – where it possesses the largest forward-positioned naval fleet of any country in the world – since 2008.
Logan Williams currently studies at the University of Connecticut. He is an International Affairs Researcher; Work Published in Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals, Such As: Geopolitics Magazine, Modern Diplomacy, Tufts University’s The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs, Democracy Paradox, Diario Las Américas, International Affairs Forum, Fair Observer, History Is Now Magazine, UNC at Chapel Hill’s American Diplomacy, The Center for Military Modernization’s Warrior Maven Magazine,
