India, Aug. 18 -- Ministry of Defence on Monday signed a contract with US defence major General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian high-altitude long-endurance unmanned aircraft for the Indian Navy. The deal is worth Rs 1,943 crore. The Navy already operates two Sea Guardian drones, which were leased a few years ago.

The ministry said it signed a contract with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the remotely piloted aircraft for a period of 30 months.

The MQ-9B Sea Guardian remotely-piloted aircraft are equipped with advanced systems, state-of-the-art sensors and sophisticated payloads. They will significantly enhance the Indian Navy's maritime domain awareness capabilities, the ministry said in a statemen...