GAURDIANS OF THE SUBCONTINENT
FLOATING IN THE SKY THOUSANDS of feet above the Indian Ocean, two cruciform-shaped Sea Guardian drones have widened the horizon of New Delhi’s security establishment. Over the past nine months, these unblinking aerial eyes have transmitted real-time crystal-clear images of Chinese and Pakistani warships operating around the Indian peninsula to video screens at the naval war room in New Delhi.
The Indian Navy had leased the MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones last year from US firm General Atomics. Taking off from a naval airbase in Arakkonam, 77 km west of Chennai, the satellite-steered drones have flown over 5,000 hours, clocking an average of over 12 hours a day, over a wide swathe from the Gulf of Aden to the Malacca Strait. Their 20-metre wingspan, as wide as a cricket pitch, has nine weapon stations called ‘hard-points’, which can carry two tonnes of electronics and weapons. A high-definition electro-optical/infra-red sensor can capture still and video images at extended ranges, a
