Amid standoff with China, India plans to buy US reaper drones

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is preparing to acquire 30 General Atomics MQ-9A Reaper drones from the United States, in a deal valued at approximately $3 billion (Rs 22,000 crore).

A recent series of meetings within the MoD have cleared the way for the procurement of an initial lot of six Reaper Medium Altitude Long Endurance drones. These six drones, two each for the army, navy and air force, are to be procured immediately from the US, indicating the urgency of the acquisition.