The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has entered into a contract with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI), to lease two MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones for the Indian Navy.
The 30-month deal, valued at approximately Rs19.43bn ($203m), was signed at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi on 17 August 2026.
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In a statement, the ministry stated that the leased high-altitude long endurance (HALE) Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), equipped with advanced systems, sensors and payloads, will “significantly enhance” the Indian Navy’s maritime surveillance capabilities.
“The systems will provide persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance coverage over vast areas of the maritime domain, strengthening India’s ability to monitor and respond to developments across the Indian Ocean Region,” it stated.
The agreement to lease two MQ-9B SeaGuardian comes as India awaits delivery of a separate $4bn order for 31 MQ-9B drones from the US, placed in 2024.
According to media reports, of the 31 MQ-9B drones set to be delivered, 15 are allocated to the Navy, while the Army and Air Force will each receive eight SkyGuardian variants.
All three services will receive versions armed with weapons including Hellfire missiles and GBU-39B precision-guided glide bombs, according to media reports.
The induction of the first batch of these procured MQ-9B drones is scheduled for January 2029, with all units expected to arrive by October 2030.
In addition, the Indian Navy previously obtained two MQ-9B high-altitude, long-endurance UAVs from General Atomics in 2020, according to GlobalData’s “India Defense Market 2023-2028” report.
The MQ-9B SeaGuardian is the maritime-focused variant of GA-ASI’s larger uncrewed aircraft portfolio.
According to GA-ASI, the platform can remain airborne for over 30 hours depending on configuration and is capable of satellite-enabled, beyond-line-of-sight operations for over-the-horizon surveillance.
It can be equipped with maritime radar, automatic identification systems, electronic support measures, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission kits.
The aircraft’s endurance and multi-mission capabilities are designed to support a range of operations, including maritime patrol, search and rescue, and long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) tasks.
In its standard configuration, SeaGuardian has a 1,200 nautical mile mission radius and can operate independently or with crewed aircraft.
In addition, the MQ-9B’s open architecture allows operators to integrate a sonobuoy management and control system as well as a dispenser system, enabling deployment, monitoring, and control of sonobuoys from a single remotely piloted aircraft.
