U.S drone sale to Ukraine encounters difficulty

• the Biden administration’s proposal to send four sizable, armed drones to Ukraine 
• The Defense Technology Security Administration, tasked with preventing enemies from obtaining high-value technology
• Three sources said the White House had previously given its OK to the plan, which has been circulating since March.

According to two persons with knowledge of the situation, the Biden administration’s proposal to send four sizable, armed drones to Ukraine has been put on hold out of concern that their sophisticated monitoring technology would end up in the hands of the enemy.

The Defense Technology Security Administration, tasked with preventing enemies from obtaining high-value technology, raised the technical objection to the sale during a more thorough investigation. Three sources said the White House had previously given its OK to the plan, which has been circulating since March.

Reuters broke the news of the intention to deliver Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be equipped with Hellfire missiles for use in combat against Russia earlier in June.

The drones’ radar and monitoring systems raised security worries for the United States if they ended up in Russian hands, which led to opposition to their export. According to the sources, this factor was not taken into account during the first evaluation but was brought up in discussions at the Pentagon late last week.

“For the transfer of U.S. defence products to all international partners, technology security reviews are a normal procedure. Every case is examined in isolation based on its own merits. National security concerns are brought to the proper approving authority through the existing process, “said Sue Gough, a Pentagon official.

One of the people a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity that the decision on whether or not to proceed with the transaction is currently being evaluated higher up the chain of command at the Pentagon, but the timeliness of any decision is uncertain.

One way to expedite the sale would be to replace the current radar and sensor package with a simpler one, but one of the individuals warned that this process may take months.

Congress would have the opportunity to prevent the sale of the drones if the lawsuit were to move forward, though that was thought to be improbable. According to those familiar with the situation, the U.S. Army was initially intended to get the four Gray Eagle drones produced by General Atomics.