# India inks Rs 1,943 crore deal with US for two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones on lease 2026-08-17T17:19:13+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's defence ministry signed an agreement on August 17, 2026 with US-based General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc (GA-ASI) to lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) remotely piloted aircraft systems for the Indian Navy for 30 months. The estimated cost of the deal is around Rs 1,943 crore, reports bazaar.businesstoday.in. The drones are equipped with advanced sensors and payloads to enhance maritime surveillance, intelligence gathering, and reconnaissance. The lease model allows India to quickly gain operational capability and training experience, bypassing the lengthy procurement process. The systems will help monitor the Indian Ocean region for threats, illegal fishing, and smuggling. ## Coverage - bazaar.businesstoday.in This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: General Atomics, Indian Navy, Ministry of Defence, MQ-9B Sea Guardian, United States Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-inks-rs-1943-crore-deal-with-us-for-two-mq-9b-sea-guardian-drones-on-lease/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-inks-rs-1943-crore-deal-with-us-for-two-mq-9b-sea-guardian-drones-on-lease/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report 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. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/