For months, the United States has been considering delivering older "Reaper" drones to Ukraine. So far, this has not happened due to security concerns. Now an armaments company wants to sell the drone to Kyiv for a small price - even without approval from Washington.
A US defense company wants to sell Ukraine drones at a bargain price. General Atomics is offering the Ukrainian government two Reaper MQ-9 drones for $1. This is reported by the US newspaper "Wall Street Journal". According to this, the drone would normally cost several million US dollars.
The US has delivered more than 700 small drones to the Russian-invaded country since the start of the war in Ukraine. However, these are not armed and are mostly used to defend Ukrainian routes, the newspaper reports. The special feature of the older model of the "Reaper MQ-9" drone: it can be armed.
Ukraine would not get away without a cost. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a letter from the company, Kyiv would need $10 million ($9.2 million) for preparation and transportation, and about $8 million ($7.4 million) annually for maintenance and repairs provide maintenance.
"General Atomics has been negotiating with the Ukrainian government for many months regarding the requirements of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and remains committed to assisting them in any way we can," C. Mark Brinkley, spokesman for General Atomics, told the newspaper.
The administration of US President Joe Biden would still have to approve the sale of the drones. However, according to the Wall Street Journal, General Atomics appears to have found a backdoor solution. The company proposes to sell the "Reaper" drones directly to the Ukrainian government and not through the US government.
The US has been considering shipping older Reaper models to Ukraine for many months. In December, the Politico newspaper reported that just a month after the Russian invasion, the US Air Force wanted to ship its old stock of drones to Kyiv. However, the Pentagon has not yet approved the delivery due to security concerns.
