This is not the first time that the Indian Army has sought the help of the Indian Navy to take China's PLA at the LAC. In the past, the Indian Army had used the Indian Navy's P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft to monitor Chinese movements across the LAC

New Delhi: The Indian Navy has joined hands with the Indian Army to take on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The Indian Army is using MQ-9A drones of the Indian Navy to monitor the PLA along the LAC.

According to a report by swarajyamag.com, publicly available mission flight data accessed by open source intelligence analyst Damien Symon has revealed that the MQ-9A drones of the Indian Navy, which are based at INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu, have been deployed at the LAC.

During the peak of the military stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh in 2020, India had leased two MQ-9A drones from US-based company General Atomics under a Company-Owned, Company-Operated (COCO) lease agreement.

The MQ-9A is a turboprop-powered aircraft that can carry a payload capacity of 3,850 pounds, including 3,000 pounds of external stores and offers unmatched operational flexibility with a 27-hour endurance, speeds of 240 KTAS, and the ability to operate at altitudes up to 50,000 feet.

The MQ-9A drone can reportedly provide ‘live feeds’ of the on ground situation picture on the ground to the Indian Army. India has also used the MQ-9A drone to monitor the growing activities of the PLA Navy (PLAN) in the Indian Ocean.

This is not the first time that the Indian Army has sought the help of the Indian Navy to take China’s PLA at the LAC. In the past, the Indian Army had used the Indian Navy’s P-8I maritime surveillance aircraft to monitor Chinese movements across the LAC.