Indian Navy’s drone keeps eye on China linked Coco islands

New Delhi: Amid recent claims of suspicious infrastructure developments in Myanmar's Coco Islands, a MQ-9 drone leased by the Indian Navy was spotted reconnoitring the surrounding areas of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

A news report by India Today quoting open-source information claimed that the likely "SkyGuardian" version of the drone conducted a four-hour long scan of the islands on April 12 just a few days after Myanmar's top military official paid the adjacent Coco Islands a high-profile visit. 

The report said, "Aviation records also show that a Fokker-70 aircraft from the Myanmar Air Force landed on the island on April 9. According to local accounts, it was reportedly carrying none other than General Min Aung Hlaing, the man in charge of the military takeover in 2021."

The visit of the top general in the Myanmar army to one of the most remote regions of the nation was simply described as a normal meeting with locals and government representatives that also involved erecting a modest victory monument. 

As per the report, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) accounts on Twitter conjectured that the Coco Islands would have been included in the MQ-9 censors' potential coverage area. Despite the fact that the drone was recognised by the aviation data aggregator Flightradar24 as the 'Reaper' version rather than the 'SeaGuardian' version, India does not currently fly this model of the drones. 

The precise model of the aircraft may differ from what was depicted on the flight tracking site, as India Today later learned from Flightradar24 that it was using a generic registration linked to the manufacturer. 

The Great Coco island, held by Myanmar, has seen increased building activity recently, according to a report by a U.K.-based think group. This island has long been believed to be China's eyes and ears in the area. 

The islands are only about 55 km away from India's strategically important Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The fact that Andaman and Nicobar are home to India's sole tri-service command makes the scenario even more logical from the standpoint of national security in India. 

India has leased the MQ-9B SeaGaurdian drones for surveying the border areas, especially in the Indian Ocean region following the increased Chinese naval activities over the past few years. Amidst the 2020 Indo-China border skirmishes, India took two such drones on lease under Company-Owned, Company-Operated (COCO) model. Other versions of drones manufactured by the same company are MQ-9B SkyGuardian and MQ-9A Reaper.

(Defence Watch– India's Defence News centre that focuses on Defence Manufacturing, Defence Technology, Strategy and Military affairs is on Twitter. Follow us here and stay updated.)