Ukraine Isn’t Just Getting American-Made Killer Drones. It’s Getting A Whole System For Remote Warfare.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden plans to offer to Ukraine the General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle, the U.S. Army’s best unmanned aerial vehicle.

The possible forthcoming offer, which Reuters first reported, would be subject to approval by the U.S. Congress. But if the president follows through, lawmakers sign off on the deal and the White House can arrange financing—likely via the federal government’s fund for foreign weapons deals—Kyiv’s forces soon could operate one of the world’s best killer drones.

But the drone itself—a two-ton, propeller-driven vehicle with a 56-foot wingspan—isn’t the most exciting component of the possible deal for Ukraine. The four MQ-1Cs that the White House reportedly is offering comprise just one “orbit.”

Four drones are enough to keep one drone flying over a small area around the clock. One vehicle is on station. Another is getting ready to take its place. The third is undergoing light maintenance after returning from battle. The fourth might be in overhaul.

The likely nine-figure Gray Eagle deal would include more than just the drones. There’s also the ground control station where a drone’s two operators sit, plus data terminals for any ground forces who want access to the vehicle’s live video feed. The deal probably also would include the 100-pound Hellfire missiles that are the MQ-1C’s main armament.

The great thing, for Ukraine, is that the MQ-1Cs and the eight Hellfires each one carries are expensive—$20 million and $150,000 per copy, respectively. Still, they’re expendable. When you use them or lose them, you just buy more via the U.S. government from manufacturers General Atomics and Lockheed Martin.

What’s arguably more important, and certainly more durable, is the underlying control system Ukraine must establish as a prerequisite for operating the first four Gray Eagles. Not just the control stations with their cockpit-like seats and array of video screens, but also access to satellite communications.

The MQ-1C, after all, can fly for half a day or longer, depending on its payload. It’s likely to range far beyond the line of sight of its operators. To steer the drone, relay its video and fire its weapons, the crew depends on SATCOM. That is, satellites—either high geostationary ones or low-orbit sats that crisscross the sky—bouncing signals between the operators and their vehicle.

Ukraine already has SATCOM infrastructure, apparently including access to the Turksat satellites that allow Ukrainian air force and navy crews to control their Turkish-made Bayraktar TB-2 drones.

The Hughes-made modems that are standard on new MQ-1Cs can tap into a range of SATCOM signals. It’s possible the Ukrainians’ new Gray Eagles will ride on SATCOM Kyiv already subscribes to. It’s equally possible that, as the Americans hand over the Gray Eagles and associated hardware, they’ll also be giving the Ukrainians access to more satellites.

Kyiv in other words is building an operational foundation not only for one orbit of MQ-1Cs, but also for any additional Gray Eagles it acquires in the future as well as any other drones the Ukrainians might want that happen to share compatibility with the same hardware and SATCOM. There are many.

All that is to say, Kyiv isn’t just getting four American-made killer drones. It’s getting a whole system for operating drones. Lots of them. Of different types.