Defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will meet their US counterparts, secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin, in December in Washington with both sides on verge of finalisation of dates.
With the India-US two plus two dialogue scheduled in December, all eyes are on the Indian Navy to move the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) for possible announcement of the $3 billion procurement of armed Predator drones from Washington to strengthen India’s beyond the horizon capabilities.
According to officials based in New Delhi and Washington, defence minister Rajnath Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will meet their US counterparts, secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin, in December in Washington with both sides on verge of finalisation of dates.
While the stabilisation of drought facing Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific in light of Chinese aggressive postures will be top of the agenda, there is a possibility of the two sides announcing the Predator deal provided the due government processes are completed.
It is understood that the Indian Navy is ready to move the DAC for Acceptance of Necessity (AON) for acquisition of 30 MQ-9A Predator drones from General Atomics with each of the three services getting 10 Hell-Fire missile firing drones.
As the Indian Navy is already operating two leased Predator drones for maritime domain awareness beyond the Straits of Malacca to Gulf of Aden, the acquisition process is being handled by them for both the Indian Air Force and the Indian Army. Despite initial reservations of the Indian Air Force, all services are on board on Predator acquisition.