The American defense sector is considering the possibility of modifying the Gray Eagle drone to remove the potential danger of losing sensitive technology and thus be able to transfer it to Ukraine, CNN reports.
The Ukrainian side has long been asking the US to hand over Gray Eagle MQ-1C multipurpose drones equipped with Hellire missiles. One drone can carry four such missiles and fly at an altitude of more than eight kilometers for almost 30 hours.
Washington has repeatedly refused, explaining that the drone contains high-tech radio and intelligence equipment, which, if it reaches Russia during hostilities, could pose a threat to the security of the United States.
Now, according to CNN sources, the US is considering ways to remove the most sensitive technologies so that the Gray Eagle transfer does not carry additional risks.
“There are specific and very technical settings and restrictions that can be made with them (Grey Eagle) that could make this transfer to Ukraine possible in the near future. But these things require time and are quite complicated,” says the interlocutor of the TV channel.
“There is still a real interest in providing this particular system, provided we can make the necessary modifications and they will still be useful to Ukraine on the battlefield,” the US official said.
Discussions about the transfer of Gray Eagle continue, and neither the Ukrainian nor the American side excludes any options. “We are fighting back, we are not giving up. It’s about survival (of Ukraine),” says a CNN interlocutor in Kyiv.
