The US State Department has approved a potential sale of 31 armed MQ-9B SkyGuardian drones, missiles and supporting equipment to India for an estimated USD 4 billion, seven months after India announced its plan to buy them during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington DC.

The Pentagon announced it on Thursday, saying that the US 'Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying the (US) Congress of this possible sale today'.

'The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of India of MQ-9B Remotely Piloted Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $3.99 billion,' the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said on Thursday night.

It said that the Indian government has requested to buy 31 MQ-9B SkyGuardian aircraft, 161 Embedded Global Positioning & Inertial Navigation Systems (EGIs), 35 L3 Rio Grande Communications Intelligence Sensor Suites, 170 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles, 16 M36E9 Hellfire Captive Air Training Missiles (CATM), 310 GBU-39B/B Laser Small Diameter Bombs (LSDB), and 8 GBU-39B/B LSDB Guided Test Vehicles (GTVs) with live fuzes. The other equipment included ground control stations, missile launchers, tactical training rounds, high frequency radios, and radars.

The Pentagon statement read that this 'proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to strengthen the US-India strategic relationship and to improve the security of a major defense partner which continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia region.'

The proposed sale, it said, 'Will improve India's capability to meet current and future threats by enabling unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance patrols in sea lanes of operation. India has demonstrated a commitment to modernizing its military and will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.'