Incident occurred in Indian ocean where drone, controlled from Tamil Nadu naval base was deployed for reconnaissance

A high-altitude-long-endurance MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone, leased by the Indian Navy from the United States, encountered a technical failure on Wednesday (18 September), and was ditched into the Bay of Bengal off Chennai.

A High-Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft (HALE RPA), a drone leased by the Navy, made an emergency landing off the coast of Chennai after suffering a technical glitch. No injuries were reported.

A high-altitude long-endurance MQ-9B Sea Guardian drone that was taken on lease by the Indian Navy encountered a "technical failure" on Wednesday while on a surveillance mission, Defence Ministry officials said.

The MQ-9B drone is a variant of the MQ-9 'Reaper' which was used to launch a modified version of the Hellfire missile that eliminated al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in the heart of Kabul in July 2022.

The massive drone weighs well over 4 tons (4,000kg), has a wingspan of 24 metres and measures 11.7 metres in length, and can fly at altitudes of 40,000 feet (which is also the maximum altitude at which most commercial planes fly).