# India leases two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones for Rs 1,943 crore 2026-08-17T12:12:44+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets India has signed a Rs 1,943 crore deal with American firm General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones for the Indian Navy. The contract, signed on August 17, 2026, at Kartavya Bhawan-2 in New Delhi, will lease the high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft for 30 months. The Navy already operates two such drones leased a few years ago. The Ministry of Defence said the drones are equipped with advanced sensors and payloads. They will boost the Navy's maritime domain awareness and provide persistent surveillance over the Indian Ocean Region. The deal was signed in the presence of Additional Secretary and Director General (Acquisition) A Anbarasu. ## Coverage - deccanchronicle.com - indiatvnews.com This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-17T14:47:11+00:00. Tags: Defence Ministry, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Indian Navy, MQ-9B Sea Guardian Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/defence-ministry-leases-two-mq-9b-sea-guardian-drones-for-rs-1943-crore/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/defence-ministry-leases-two-mq-9b-sea-guardian-drones-for-rs-1943-crore/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/