Pentagon Puts Brakes on Sale of Gray Eagle Drones To Ukraine

Kimberly Johnson

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 03:50 PM ET

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A U.S. Army soldier ground guides a MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system. [U.S. Army photo by Spc. Devin Fleming.]

Key Takeaways:

A White House plan to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle armed combat drones has been halted by Pentagon officials.
The pause is due to concerns that the drones' sensitive radar and surveillance equipment could pose a security risk if captured by Russia.
Even if the sale is approved by higher authorities in the Pentagon, it would still require Congressional approval and significant training and infrastructure development for Ukraine.
Despite this setback, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with numerous other types of smaller combat and tactical drones, while Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones have also been deployed.

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A White House plan to sell Ukraine four General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle armed combat drones was halted following concerns by Pentagon officials, according to Reuters.

Earlier this month, the White House announced it was sending Ukraine additional military aid in the form of a drawdown of equipment from U.S. defense inventories, as well as $1 billion in security assistance in the form of artillery and coastal defense weapons. News of the aid in recent weeks came as the Biden Administration was reportedly shoring up plans to also sell four MQ-1C Gray Eagle combat drones to Ukraine. The Gray Eagle is capable of carrying up to four Hellfire missiles, and could provide armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities with added features of automatic takeoff and landing.