Why the US suspends the shipment of Gray Eagle drones to Ukraine
Stop the Biden administration's plan to sell four Gray Eagle UAVs to Ukraine. The Pentagon fears that sophisticated surveillance equipment could fall into enemy hands, two sources tell Reuters. All the details
No Gray Eagle drones for Ukraine.
The Biden administration's plan to sell four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones to Ukraine to withstand the Russian offensive is suspended. Reuters reported, citing two sources close to the dossier.
Also Reuters had revealed in early June Washington's intention to supply unmanned armed aircraft to Ukrainian forces. The plan, which has been in circulation since March, had received the green light from the White House, the sources said.
The drones, produced by the American General Atomics, can be armed with Hellfire missiles.
The technical objection to the sale was raised during a closer scrutiny by the Pentagon's Defense Technology Security Administration tasked with keeping high-value technology safe from enemy hands.
It is feared that radar and drone surveillance equipment could create a security risk for the United States if it falls into Russia's hands, Reuters points out.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US has already sent 121 US-built Phoenix Ghost drones to Kiev. In addition, Washington had already delivered the Switchblade drones developed by the US company AeroVironment and already in operation in Ukraine. Compared to the Switchblades, the so-called kamikaze drones, the Phoenix Ghosts have a wider "range", the Pentagon spokesman specified.
But with the Gray Eagle drones, instead, it would be a technological leap by moving to a much more sophisticated system.
All the details.
WHAT ARE GRAY EAGLE DRONES
The Biden administration intended to send four aircraft armed with up to eight Hellfire missiles to Kiev: they can fly more than 30 hours and collect a huge amount of data.
"The sale of these modern" air killers "would be particularly significant, since for the first time it would field against Russia an advanced US system, however reusable, capable of carrying out multiple deep attacks" reported Rai News .
“In general, the MQ-1C is a much larger aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight about three times that of the Bayraktar-TB2, with commensurate benefits in terms of payload capacity, range and drag. Drone expert Dan Gettinger of the Vertical Flight Society told Reuters .
The MQ-1C is also compatible with a greater variety of ammunition than the Bayraktar-TB2. Ukrainian Bayraktar are equipped with 22 kg (48 lb) Turkish-made MAM-L missiles, about half the weight of a Hellfire.
THE COST
According to US Army budget documents, Gray Eagle UAV systems cost $ 10 million each.
BECAUSE THE PENTAGON SAID STOP
The decision on whether or not to continue with the deal is now under review further up the Pentagon's chain of command. But the timing of any decision is uncertain, one source told Reuters .
“Technological security reviews are standard practice for the transfer of US defense articles to all international partners. All cases are examined individually on their own merit. Through the established process, national security issues are brought to the attention of the appropriate approval authority, ”Pentagon spokesperson Sue Gough said.
One way to go ahead with the sale would be to replace the existing radar and sensor package with something less sophisticated. But the process could take months, one of the sources told Reuters .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/droni-grey-ucraina-usa/ on Tue, 21 Jun 2022 05:59:43 +0000.