10 things to know about the armed Predator or MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones India is set to buy from US

India is set to purchase 30 MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the US, the cost of which comes to around $3 billion (Rs 24,627 crore).

The new drones will help India boost its surveillance efforts along the LAC and in the Indian Ocean.

The Predator drones are long-endurance unmanned aircraft systems that can be used during anti-submarine warfare, hitting stationary targets, and even over-the-horizon targetting.

Here are 10 unknown things about the drones India is set to purchase from the US:

1. The MQ-9B is a variant of the MQ-9 "Reaper", the drone famously used by the US to terminate al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

2. The Indian Navy, in 2020, had taken two MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones from the US on lease for a year to carry out surveillance operations in the Indian Ocean. The lease period was later extended.

3. It was after the failure of GNAT 750 in the US' operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina that the conception of Predator drones were set in place. The drones have seen action in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Libyan civil war, and in Syria in 2014.

4. The original Predator models were replaced by the Predator B, also known as MQ-9 Reapers, in 2007.

5. There are two variants of the MQ-9B drones - the SeaGuardian and the SkyGuardian.

6. The manufacturer of the said drones, General Atomics, says that SeaGuardian models can carry loads of around 5,670 kg and their fuel capacity is 2,721 kg.

7. The SeaGuardian drone can operate over 40,000 feet, which would help the Indian Amy in surveillance operations in the Himalayan border regions. Their endurance time is 40 hours.

8. An MQ-9 Reaper model was used by the US to kill Iran's General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

9. In an interview with PTI, General Atomics' CEO, Vivek Lall, had said, "MQ-9B would enable its Indian military users to fly farther than anything else in this category, spend more time in the air and handle a greater diversity of missions than any other similar aircraft. The SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian can deliver full-motion video in virtually any conditions, day or night, as well as other kinds of detailed sensing with their onboard systems".

10. All members of the Quad group - US, India, Australia, and Japan - have used MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones at some point of time.