India has opted for U.S.-made MQ-9B to acquire UCAV platforms quickly and temporarily abandoned local development.
Defense News report states that the inadequate performance and technical issues with India's MALE class UCAV programme TAPAS have pushed the decision makers to acquire MQ-9B UCAVs from the U.S.
India has decided to purchase 31 MQ-9B UCAVs in SkyGuardian and maritime patrol-oriented SeaGuardian configurations.
India's rivalry with Pakistan is among the driving factors in the search for a UCAV fleet.
A significant number of UCAVs means that India can have armed ISR platforms loitering for tens of hours, especially near the border with Pakistan and India's maritime zone.
Pakistan's acquisition of Turkish Bayraktar TB2, AKINCI, self-developed Sharpar series, and Chinese Wing Loong armed UAVs/UCAVs is another plane of this rivalry.
Another move to fortify the air force was the deal with Russia for AL-31FP turbofan engines, powering its fleet of Su-30MKI multirole fighters. This has gained a new level of significance with the acquisition problems with the F404 turbofan engines for locally developed Tejas fighters.
