India had just ordered six deadly hunter drones that are proven to be lethal, but do not come with a hefty price tag. Each service will get two as the first set and will be delivered where they are needed.
The total cost of the arms order is about £2.32 billion. Military units over the next few years will have them. Everyone will get an equivalent number of drones.
New Delhi has no confidence that Beijing will stick to any agreement, so the stakes are higher by getting all the arms needed for any impending conflict. The Himalayan border region is a powder keg that is waiting to get lit. China is dogging the issue, and India is right to assume defensive posture, reported Express UK.
According to analysts, the MQ-9B drone can loiter for 40-hours as high as 40,000-feet. To lie in wait for targets of opportunity in any battle zone, this drone may have specs kept from the public.
This is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is an excellent weapons platform, carrying ground attack missiles and laser-guided bombs up to 2.5 tons. It's the weapon of choice when the U.S. has achieved aerial superiority. They are mostly used to harass the low-tech armies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Africa.
The assassination of the top Iranian commander Major General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad was done by an MQ-9 Reaper last January. Such an operation proved that drones are expendable without the loss of human life.
Recently, the Reapers were sent the South China Sea for maritime duty as extra equipment of the U.S. Fleet. The system is far superior to other competing programmable drones used in other forces. China has an equivalent drone but is not as sophisticated.
Unmanned Heron drones will be upgraded by Israel to have the existing equipment tuned up with better communication links.
The Satellite link is a problem because of a time gap which need two Heron drones in tandem flying to account for the time gap in the information sent to home-base. Gaps in long-range surveillance and recon need to be fixed.
Getting an upgrade will mean the drone will link up in faster time for the home-base. Improves contact for long-range recon and keeping the link up at all times in operation.
A highway is under construction in the Ladakh region, where China and India have a big-time scuffle. It is one of the most intension logger heading in decades between them. Apparently, China has been busy providing access to the border zone with all the necessary infrastructure which India lacks. Helipads for their helicopters are also provided. When the highway is completed the Indian Army will get better access.
The Himalayas is the site where a skirmish happened between them, and it became a bloody hand-to-hand clash in June. Allegedly there were 20 Indian troopers but Chinese casualties are top secret.
In 1962 both nations were in a border clash over the Actual Control (LAC) which is getting worse now. India is not backing down on the heating up border issue and matching China's actions.
