India has sent a letter of request (LoR) to the U.S. seeking to purchase patrol drones for protection of its maritime assets in the Indian Ocean, sources said.
The LoR sent by New Delhi last week comes less than a fortnight after India was inducted into Missile Technology Control Regime and recognised by the U.S. as a “major defence partner” after the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama earlier this month.
This is part of the government’s effort to fast-track its goal to secure the country’s maritime assets, particularly in the Indian Ocean and detect any untoward intrusion like Mumbai terrorist attack.
The letter seeks purchase of state-of-the-art multi-mission maritime patrol Predator Guardian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) from General Atomics, sources said. It provides high-altitude wide area view and has long endurance maritime ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) capability
