The United States wants to modify the Gray Eagle advanced drone for transferring to Ukraine - CNN

In the United States, they plan to modify the Gray Eagle MQ-1C multi-purpose drone, armed with Hellfire missiles, for further transfer to Ukraine. Earlier, the States refused to include drones in a package of weapons, as they were afraid that technology would go to the Russians.

The fact that the United States has changed its decision is reported by CNN with reference to two officials, one of the sources is a representative of the congress. Changes will make the potential loss of any drone - with their sensitive on -board technology - unbearable for the American army.

“These are specific technical settings and“ sterilization ”that can make a transmission possible in the near future,” said the representative of the congress. “But these procedures take time and are quite complicated.” According to the source, the US Army heads the modification.

The question of the transfer of Gray Eagle MQ-1C to Ukraine has been raised repeatedly and was also repeatedly blocked by the US authorities. In June, Reuters, citing sources, wrote that the US presidential administration was going to sell to Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones, but the Pentagon prevented this. In addition to fears that technology will fall into the hands of Russians, the American authorities are also stopping the reluctance to aggravate the conflict with the Russian Federation.

The cost of each such drone is $ 10 million. Gray Eagle MQ-1C can carry four Hellfire missiles, fly at an altitude of 7620 m for almost 30 hours. Drones will allow Ukrainian troops to better collect intelligence data at a distance, help artillery guidance on Earth and fight the drones that Russia controls.

As in the case of Gray Eagle, the United States also refused to transfer large -range ATAMCS missiles to Ukraine with a radius of action of about 300 km. The reason is the fears that Ukrainian troops will begin to beat directly in Russian territory. At the same time, as CNN notes, Ukraine offered the United States a plan with a list of goals, but atamcs it still does not pass it on, fearing the escalation of the conflict with the Russian Federation.