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| Biden will donate Mi-17 Helicopters to Ukraine |
International Military - Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden agreed to send $800 million in military aid to Ukraine. In the delivery package it contained Mil Mi-17 helicopters, M114 155 mm howitzers, Radar, Switchblade drones and other lethal equipment.
Anticipating Russia's military operation in Eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to US and European leaders to send more weapons.
"The package includes 11 Mil Mi-17 helicopters, M114 155mm howitzers, 40,000 artillery shells, counter-artillery radar, 200 armored personnel carriers, and over 300 Switchblade drones," quoted EurAsian Times. , the US plans to send more lethal drones.
What are those drones?
Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, told The Washington Post that she met with General Atomics executives. Discusses the MQ-1 Predator drone and its successor MQ-9 Reaper and the smaller Gray Eagle.
“We discussed with General Atomics about the prospect of increasing the capacity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the current situation in Ukraine,” said Oksana Markarova. She did not reveal explicitly what she was looking for from General Atomics, only saying that Ukraine wanted to “surprise Russia on the battlefield”.
However, General Atomic spokesman C. Mark Brinkley told the Washington Times that sending drones to Ukraine required US government approval.
Deadly drones for Ukraine
In fact, Ukraine has deployed a large number of drones, many of which were purchased from Turkey to carry out ambushes and air strikes.
Call it one of the best-selling drones, namely the Bayraktar TB-2 which is reported to have helped the Neptune missile attack that sank the pride of Russia's warship, Moskva, quoted Forbes.
Heavier General Atomics drones could be a game changer for Ukraine, the US could send the Predator or its more sophisticated successor, the Reaper. Or maybe consider transferring the MQ-1C variant of the battle-proven Gray Eagle.
As additional information, the MQ-9 Reaper drone is capable of carrying a payload of about 1.7 tons which is ten times larger than the Bayraktar TB-2, quoted EurAsian Times.
The Reaper is also capable of carrying surface-to-air missiles, guided bombs, and even heat-seeking air-to-air missiles that have proven lethal against Russia.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said attack drones were the one the country needed, along with tanks, anti-ship missiles, artillery and air defense systems.
With no sign from the US or NATO to transfer combat aircraft, heavily armed drones could be an option to increase Ukraine's combat capabilities.