India's MQ-9B Guardian Drones To Be 27 Per Cent Cheaper Than Others: Report

The average cost of the 31 MQ-9B Sky and Guardian High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones that India is acquiring from the United States will be 27 per cent lower than the cost offered to other nations, reported PTI.

The estimated average cost, according to a release by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is about $3,072 million.

This makes the average per unit price of a MQ-9B to be around $99 million, more than double the cost of Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets, which costs $43 million.

A government official was clarifying after the Congress Party spokesperson Pawan Khera, in a press conference, demanded the government to be transparent in the MQ-9B drone deal, while insinuating a scam in the deal.

The official said that the average cost offered by the US to India is about 27 per cent lower than that offered to the other nations.

The negotiations for the pricing of the drones has still not begun and the Indian negotiators will work to bring the price further down, the official said adding that, "the prices can be revised upwards only if India seeks additional features."

The Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has claimed that the United Kingdom bought the drones at $69 million each.

Clarifying this, the official stated, "Sixteen of these drones purchased by the UK cost it $69 million each but it was only a "green aircraft" without sensors, weapons and certification."

Infact, the cost of the sensors and other modifications is sometimes even 60-70 per cent of the total cost, he said, adding that even the US acquired five of them at $119 million.

He hoped that the price for India might be lower since the manufacturer — General Atomics (GA-ASI) — might have recovered a large part of its initial investment from earlier deals.

However, if India adds sensors and do some modifications, like integrating its own radars, sensors and weapons, the price will be higher.

Apart from this the official also said that India is also working to get more transfer of technology (ToT), from the earlier 9 to 10 per cent to 15 to 20 per cent.

For immediate need India will buy off-the-shelf 11 drones, and the rest 20 will be assembled in India.

"India is looking to buy 11 of these drones off-the-shelf to meet its immediate needs and the rest will be assembled in the country," he said.

(Also Read: Five Misleading Claims Made By The Congress On India-US Deal For MQ-9B Drones)