Specialised drone ‘ditched’ at sea due to technical snag

A specialised high-altitude, long-range surveillance drone, known as the Sea Guardian and leased from the US company General Atomics, made a ‘landing at sea’ east of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal.

The drone has not yet been recovered, sources said. The Navy reported that the drone experienced a technical failure around 2 pm today while on a routine surveillance mission, which could not be resolved mid-flight. “The aircraft was navigated to a safe area over the sea and conducted a controlled ditching off the coast of Chennai,” the Navy stated.

A detailed report has been requested from General Atomics. The drone, operated by the company, was leased during heightened tensions with China along the border. Capable of flying non-stop for over 36 hours, the Sea Guardian continuously transmits live feeds during operations.

Classified as a high-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft (HALE-RPA), the Sea Guardian was operating from the Indian Navy’s air base at INS Rajali in Arakkonam, near Chennai.