US to Send Ukraine its “Gray Eagle” Drones – Will it make a Difference?

The US has announced it will be sending General Atomics “Gray Eagle” drones – similar to the infamous “Predator” drone – to Ukraine.

However, the US is only initially sending 4 drones and the Gray Eagle is comparable to Ukraine’s existing (or perhaps previously existing) Bayraktar TB2 drones produced by Turkey. The Gray Eagle drones will face the same limitations Ukraine’s Bayraktar drones faced, providing no means to change the course of the conflict, but almost certainly making General Atomics money alongside other US arms manufacturers, namely Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

References:

Reuters – EXCLUSIVE U.S. plans to sell armed drones to Ukraine in coming days -sources:
https://www.reuters.com/business/aero…

Al Jazeera – What do we know about Ukraine’s use of Turkish Bayraktar drones?:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3…

Daily Sabah – Ukraine, Turkey have signed deal for 12 Bayraktar TB2 UAVs, Poroshenko says (January 2019):
https://www.dailysabah.com/defense/20…

UAWIRE – Ukraine conducts flight tests of Turkish combat drones (July 2020):
https://uawire.org/ukraine-conducts-f…

Defense News – Ukraine is set to buy 24 Turkish drones. So why hasn’t Russia pushed back? (September 2021):
https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/…

Daily Sabah – In Ukraine’s 1st combat use, Bayraktar TB2 destroys Russian armament (October 2021):
https://www.dailysabah.com/business/d…

The New Atlas – How Deadly are Turkish Bayraktar TB2 Drones in Ukrainian Hands?:
https://youtu.be/yTIQUg18C0k