Predator drones

Although the Pentagon had cleared the sale of 22 Guardian naval surveillance drones to India, New Delhi was insistent that given the costs involved, it was in favour of acquiring an armed drone which operates over both land and sea. “Purchase of the Guardian drone through government to government route did not make sense as even if the unarmed drone identifies a hostile target over Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea, it will have to request for Boeing P- 8I Neptune (aircraft) to destroy the target. The time lag and effort is not worth the while. The Indian need is an armed drone which not only locates but hunts down the target,” said a senior Indian government official who asked not to be identified.

The other Indian worry is about encryption keys to weaponised drone. Essentially, Indian national security planners are worried whether the US will also have control of the armed drones and could theoretically jam them . e US defence manufacturers have dismissed this concern by saying that India will have all the encryption keys for the armed drone.

This question, and the issue of the sale of the drones will come up before the technical team of Office of Secretary of Defence (OSD) policy arrives in the Capital on May 3-4, 2018 to discuss the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) with Defence Ministry