The Biden administration is planning on selling four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones – which are capable of carrying powerful Hellfire missiles – to Ukraine to help the country fight Russia, a report says.
The move would provide a military boost to Ukraine in the war, which so far has been using drones like the Turkish Bayraktar-TB2, according to Reuters. The MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones can fly more than 30 hours per mission and carry eight Hellfire missiles, which are double the weight of the munitions that the Bayraktar-TB2 operates with, the news agency adds.
“Generally the MQ-1C is a much larger aircraft with a max take-off weight around three times that of the Bayraktar-TB2, with commensurate advantages in payload capacity, range, and endurance,” drone expert Dan Gettinger of the nonprofit Vertical Flight Society told Reuters.
Gettinger also said training on the General Atomics-made drones usually takes several months.
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But three people familiar with the Biden administration’s plans told Reuters that a training regimen has been proposed that could get Ukraine’s military up to speed on how to use the drones in only a few weeks.
The sources added that the sale of the drones has been under review at the Pentagon for numerous weeks and it could still be blocked by Congress.
One U.S official told Reuters that Biden’s administration will notify Congress of the potential sale of the drones in the coming days, followed by a public announcement.
Biden earlier this week announced that the U.S. is sending “more advanced rocket systems and munitions” to Ukraine, a move that Russia characterized as “adding fuel to the fire.”
