On 17 August 2026, the Government of India signed a USD $203 million deal with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) to lease two MQ-9B SeaGuardian high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aerial vehicles to the Indian Navy for 30 months.
India’s lease: a bridge to a larger MQ-9B force
The 30-month lease renews an MQ-9B presence that the Indian Navy has run since a contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) arrangement began in November 2020; that COCO contract will end in early 2027. The two leased MQ-9Bs are intended to maintain an operational orbit until the 31 MQ-9Bs India ordered in 2024 begin delivery. The deal is explicitly about sustaining continuity of capability while a larger, ordered fleet is staged into service.
How the MQ-9B extends ISTAR, ASW and strike for the Indian Navy
The MQ-9B is being fielded as a networked node across the Indian Navy’s wider ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance) and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) stack. The platform will carry a 360-degree surface-search radar, two electronic support measures (ESM) suites and a communications-intelligence (COMINT) payload to create a broad-area ISTAR net. For ASW, the MQ-9B is equipped to employ AN/SSQ-62F directional command-activated sonobuoys (DICASS), AN/SSQ-53G directional frequency analysis and recording (DIFAR) sonobuoys, and AN/SSQ-36 bathythermographs. In the strike role, the MQ-9B can field AGM-114R Hellfire missiles and GBU-39B/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB).
Operational workflows emphasize manned–unmanned teaming (MUM‑T) between the MQ-9B and the P‑8I Neptune: the MQ-9B provides scalable, more attritable coverage and can feed the P‑8I in real time and cue the P‑8I’s munitions, extending over‑the‑horizon situational awareness and targeting across fixed-wing patrol platforms and multi‑mission rotary assets such as the MH‑60R Seahawk.
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End the scramblePakistan’s sovereign pathway: Shahpar 3, Sea Sultan and NESCOM’s strategy
By contrast, the Pakistan Navy (PN) and the National Engineering & Scientific Commission (NESCOM) are pursuing a sovereign-controlled, locally designed ISTAR/ASW/AShW (anti-ship warfare) stack built around the Shahpar 3 Group 4+ drone, the Sea Sultan long-range maritime patrol aircraft (LRMPA), and a pending multirole naval helicopter platform. That pathway is explicitly open-ended and domestically steered: NESCOM has configured the Shahpar 3 to carry a new air-launched cruise missile, the Rasoob 250, a lightweight torpedo called Eghraaq, an AESA surface surveillance/targeting radar designated KPM-6030, plus ESM and COMINT suites.
NESCOM regards the Shahpar 3 as a flagship program, but the work has been high friction. The Sea Sultan program, in particular, is described as “running into trouble,” and it remains unclear whether the Shahpar 3 has completed flight testing or to what extent it has been tested. The PN’s Naval Research and Development Institute signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkish Aerospace Industries in 2024, and NESCOM is eyeing engine sources from Türkiye and Ukraine for future, larger Group 5 developments derived from the Shahpar 3.
Platform comparisons: weight, power, payload, ceiling, range and endurance
- MTOW: MQ‑9B — 5,670 kg; Shahpar 3 — 1,650 kg.
- Powerplant: MQ‑9B — Honeywell TPE331‑10 turboprop (671 kW); Shahpar 3 — 170 hp (127 kW) piston engine.
- Payload: MQ‑9B — 2,155 kg externally via nine hardpoints; Shahpar 3 — roughly 400–500 kg.
- Service ceiling: MQ‑9B — over 40,000 ft; Shahpar 3 ISR mode — 28,000–35,000 ft (drops to 30,000 ft when armed).
- Endurance and range: Shahpar 3 — endurance over 30 hours (configuration‑dependent) and SATCOM‑enabled ranges of 2,500–3,000 km; the Shahpar 3 was explicitly designed with naval reach and endurance in mind despite smaller engines and lighter structure.
The raw numbers underscore the gap in size, power and payload between a Western HALE platform and a domestically produced Group 4+ UAV. At the same time, NESCOM’s design choices prioritize naval-range endurance and sovereign integration of weapons and sensors, and they enable the PN to procure and potentially field larger counts of a lighter, domestically sourced asset.
What this means for the Pakistan Navy, the Indian Navy, and NESCOM
- Pakistan Navy: The PN is betting on attritability, sovereign sustainment and indigenous configuration — fielding Shahpar 3 in numbers and tailoring it to carry Rasoob 250, Eghraaq torpedoes, and the KPM‑6030 radar where available.
- Indian Navy: The IN is sustaining a high-end HALE presence through MQ‑9B leases and is integrating the MQ‑9B into a fully networked ISTAR/ASW/AShW architecture alongside the P‑8I and MH‑60R, using MUM‑T to extend surveillance reach and cue manned platforms.
- NESCOM: NESCOM gains engineering experience and a development pathway; completion of the Shahpar 3 is positioned to yield future, faster iterations and potentially a Group 5 UAV if suitable engines from Türkiye and Ukraine can be obtained.
The short-term picture is a study in contrasts: India buys continuity and high-end networking with leased MQ‑9Bs to bridge to an ordered fleet, while Pakistan accepts development friction to retain sovereign control and put domestic designs — sensors, weapons and sustainment — at the centre of its maritime ISR and strike strategy. Whether NESCOM’s patience and platform design choices will close the capability gap remains tied to test outcomes, engine availability and the PN’s ability to mass-produce Shahpar 3 units to exploit attritability and extensibility.
