India-US deal for Sea & Sky Guardians, negotiated since 2015, comes to fruition. How India got there
New Delhi: Amid China focusing big on its naval prowess way back in 2015, the Indian Navy planners factored in a need for long range unmanned surveillance platforms to keep an almost 24×7 eye on the Indian Ocean Region.
While the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was working on unmanned systems, they were catering for Medium Altitude Long Endurance System (MALE), while the Navy wanted high Altitude ones known as HALE.
So, the only option then was to procure from outside. Much to the disadvantage of Indian military planners, there was no system available with anyone to meet such requirements except the Americans.
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But the then Obama administration had a freeze on non-treaty partners getting US-made unmanned systems.The US had...