Yuriy Kobzar19:09, 05/04/24

Although the USA itself regularly loses such drones in various wars, they are not given to Ukraine “because they can be shot down.”

Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been asking the United States for the supply of MQ-9 Reaper attack and reconnaissance drones , but Washington has always refused under dubious pretexts. This is written by the military analytical publication Defense Express .

It is noted that initially the Ukrainian military wanted to use these drones to carry out strike and patrol missions, and now – for reconnaissance. In particular, to detect objects of the Russian army behind the front line and thus improve the efficiency of work, in particular, M142 HIMARS and other missile systems available in the Armed Forces.

The US refuses to transfer the MQ-9 Reaper to Ukraine, citing the fact that the drone could be shot down. Defense Express experts consider such an explanation absurd.

“UAVs are precisely designed to operate in high-risk areas, with a high saturation level of air defense means and other threats,” they say.

Also, analysts emphasize that the MQ-9 Reaper drones themselves are not some kind of scarce weapon, when the loss of one device will be felt. For example, in April 2023, the Americans were reprimanded for writing off fifty MQ-9 Reapers, which could be transferred for the needs of the Armed Forces. And in October, the manufacturing company offered to supply drones to Ukraine almost at its own expense, but the Pentagon still did not agree.

What is the MQ-9 Reaper

The MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft was created in 2001 by the American military-industrial complex for the needs of the US and British armies. The device, which has a wingspan of 25 meters, is capable of performing strike and reconnaissance missions at an altitude of up to 15 km, staying in the air for up to 20 hours.

The drone can carry from 4 to 8 air-to-ground or air-to-air missiles on board. Instead of missiles, you can hang free-falling or guided air bombs from it.

For all time, up to 300 drones were produced, of which at least 23 were lost in combat or for technical reasons. The last known loss was recorded on April 26 of this year: one such drone was shot down by the Yemeni Houthis.

The MQ-9 Reaper was actively used by the US and other countries in a number of military conflicts. It is significant that one such drone was also shot down in the Russian-Ukrainian war. On March 14, 2023, a Russian aircraft rammed  the American MQ-9 Reaper, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight over the international waters of the Black Sea.

This drone is currently in service with the USA, Britain, Spain, Turkey, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France and Japan. The cost of one UAV is up to 30 million dollars.

(C)UNIAN 2024