MQ9 Predator Acquisition from U.S, News Updates and Discussions

[IndianHawk]

Mq 9 are costly to procure. But they will save whole lot of money in operational expenses as they use much less fuel to fly compared to heavier p8i and savings on pilots training salary pention will be enormous over there lifetime.
Many people are missing this.

 

[iNorthernerOn9]

This post is about "Hisar 300" Radar which is a part of MQ-9B package 'requested by/offered to' India.

It can be used over both land & seas.

The unit cost of the radar which comes as externally mounted pod form is >$20 million a piece for the latest version and features.

The numbers being procured was not mentioned in DSCA release... but even if let's say 20 are procured... this one item alone adds to $400 million out of $4 billion being asked by US.

Above statements are based on my research on the net... attaching below

Don't confuse swath with range... range is 200+ kilometres for 1 metre resolution.

Hisar 2k is older variant... latest is Hisar 300

This radar is a real gamechanger... especially for LOC.

Image was difficult to find here underbelly

 

[Automatic Kalashnikov]

 

[karn]

I think one aspect of why many people aren't grasping why these platforms are so expensive is cause they are looking at the cost of the platform itself.
What is actually is driving the cost is are the sensors .. the radars the EO/IIR etc.
There is no comparable SAR that DRDO has developed and as for IIR ... leave it even the FPGA for our "indigenous" ATGMs are imported leave alone something with the range of of what is on the MQ9.
So it is entirely pointless to compare this with a tapas. There isn't even a local turbofan in development FFS.

 

[Tshering22]

Just remember indigenous Dornier MPA cost is around USD 10 million

I wonder whether it would kill every single HAL engineer and babu managing the organization to try and turn Do-228s into flying MALE UAVs.

Without the manned crew requirements, its fuel tanks can be extended well into the fuselage with bigger sensors along the cockpit area. It would be one hell of an ISR platform. Even if the unmanned one costs $20 million apiece, it would make us considerably self-reliant.

 

[binayak95]

Just remember indigenous Dornier MPA cost is around USD 10 million

Indeed- and it has neither the range nor the sensors. If HAL had brains they would have made the dornier into a HALE UAV decades ago.

 

[TopWatcher]

I think one aspect of why many people aren't grasping why these platforms are so expensive is cause they are looking at the cost of the platform itself.
What is actually is driving the cost is are the sensors .. the radars the EO/IIR etc.
There is no comparable SAR that DRDO has developed and as for IIR ... leave it even the FPGA for our "indigenous" ATGMs are imported leave alone something with the range of of what is on the MQ9.
So it is entirely pointless to compare this with a tapas. There isn't even a local turbofan in development FFS.

Means DRDO not able to build radars which MQ going to have ?

 

[Azaad]

I wonder whether it would kill every single HAL engineer and babu managing the organization to try and turn Do-228s into flying MALE UAVs.

Without the manned crew requirements, its fuel tanks can be extended well into the fuselage with bigger sensors along the cockpit area. It would be one hell of an ISR platform. Even if the unmanned one costs $20 million apiece, it would make us considerably self-reliant.

Where are the kind of sophisticated sensors to go on board the Dorniers like the Americans have done with the various variants of the Predators ? At the most you'd have a HALE TD.

 

[NutCracker]