The US discloses that it is not keen on requests by Ukraine to arm them with Gray Eagle drones, noted Russian military expert Dmitry Drozdenko. He indicated even though the US drone is better than the Turkish Bayraktar TB2, these UAVs are targets for Russian anti-air defenses, per Radio Sputnik.
Ukraine Requests for Gray Eagle Drones for Ukraine
Washington has not allowed the transfer of the MQ-1C UAV, and the Russian expert offered an opinion on why its proxy has been rejected many times.
Drozdenko bluntly stated how US lawmakers had avoided the transfer of the US drone because it could be taken by Russians, whose tech can be studied by technicians. Last November 22, CNN mentioned that such drones would be less capable in Kyiv.
Most of the unit would be different from the secret technology stripped from UAV, The Eurasian Times reported. Such systems will be the SAR/GMIT target and radar system and ELINT info-gathering suite. Another concern is how to make the drone crash and not yield any information about the build.
One indisputable fact is that the attack drones of the AFU have been abject failures and served nothing to help them when the Russian forces had a hard time with their drones in the start but coped with negating them.
These unmanned aerial vehicles that were successful first are the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones touted as gamechanger but instead proved useless despite Ukrainian boastfulness. None of these UAVs are seen, which implies it was a flash in the pan.
Ukrainian forces were delighted, but as the battle for the Donbas expanded, they got silent. They've stopped touting it, and experts ask why no more.
Push to send the US Army Europe Commander did it, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges (retd), trying to convince it must be sent. Based on the spec of the MQ-1C, that has good search and recon.
US Won't Give In to Requests for Gray Eagle Drones
General Atomics built it more modified than the earlier Predator seen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its dimensions are 26 meters long and 52 meters wide. It carries a 360 kg loadout with a maximum takeoff weight of 1,633 kilograms. The top speed is 309 kilometers, reaching 29,000 feet altitude, and it can loiter for 25 hours with a heavy fuel motor rated at 164 horsepower.
US UAVs sent to AFU will have a nose-mounted targeting system compatible with the old AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, according to Defense Update, for all conditions. The system can designate and see targets over 25,000 feet up using a laser homing Hellfire that can hit 11 kilometers away. The targeting system indicates the target and fires at the crosshairs.
Alleged claims show the drone can negate Russia's more elaborate missile shield, even if allegations point to the HIMARS beating Russian systems.
An expectation, but not proven, is that the US drone can hamper Russian supplies and attack Russian command and ammo dumps. But the Russians have employed extensive ECM to counter it, and other means lessening its effectiveness.
Washington dreads that Ukraine is too inefficient to secure its prized drone, and Russia getting the MTS is a nightmare. US officials cannot risk Gray Eagle Drones getting one of them captured by Ukraine, as requests for it are getting desperate.
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