US plans to sell Gray Eagle drone to Ukraine

The administration of US President Joe Biden plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Grey Eagle drones that can be equipped with Hellfire missiles.

The sale of drones manufactured by General Atomics may be blocked by Congress, Reuters reports, quoting its sources.

The sale plan itself "has been under consideration at the Pentagon for several weeks", the sources added.

The agency's sources noted that part of the funds from the $40 billion aid package previously provided to Ukraine will be used to finance the possible sale of drones, as well as to train the Ukrainian military in their use.

Ukraine has been using several types of smaller, shorter range unmanned aerial systems against Russian forces that invaded the country in late February. They include the AeroVironment (AVAV.O) RQ-20 Puma AE, and the Turkish Bayraktar-TB2.

But the Gray Eagle represents a leap in technology because it can fly up to 30 or more hours depending on its mission and can gather huge amounts of data for intelligence purposes. Gray Eagles, the Army's version of the more widely known Predator drone, can also carry up to eight powerful Hellfire missiles.

The sale is significant because it puts an advanced reusable U.S. system capable of multiple deep strikes on the battlefield against Russia for the first time.

"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 Vertical Flight Society said.

The MQ-1C is also compatible with a greater variety of munitions than the Bayraktar-TB2. The Ukrainian Bayraktars are equipped with 22 kg Turkish-made MAM-L missiles, around half the weight of a Hellfire.

Training on the UAV system made by General Atomics usually takes months, Gettinger said, but a notional plan to train experienced Ukrainian maintainers and operators in a handful of weeks has been proposed in recent weeks, the sources said.

Arming the drones with Hellfire missiles will be done via a future Presidential Drawdown Authority once training on the drones has been completed, the U.S. official and one of the sources said.

Up until an announcement on June 1 that Ukraine would get four HIMARS rocket systems, the Pentagon has stressed that smaller systems such as Javelin anti-tank systems and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which allies are shipping to Ukraine via truck near-daily, are most useful.

Raytheon Technologies (RTX.N) and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) jointly produce Javelins, while Raytheon makes Stingers.