Ukraine Has Received New Reconnaissance and Strike Assets from Its Allies

Following the Swedish Saab 340 AEW&C aircraft with Ericsson FSR 890 Erieye radar system to provide effective control of F-16 fighter jets, Kiev appears to have received the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned reconnaissance drone.

This fact was made public in Romania and is being discussed vividly in Moldova.

MQ-9 Reaper is a long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to perform a variety of missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, combat support as well as to strike ground targets. Developed and manufactured in the United States, it entered service in 2007. The UAV has been widely and effectively used in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Now it has appeared in the skies of Ukraine.

The drone can be modified to accomplish either reconnaissance or strike missions. The last option seems to be most attractive to Ukraine as it will enable them to use long-range guided missiles and bombs to destroy targets at a considerable distance from the frontline and the country’s border.

MQ-9 Reaper can automatically perform such maneuvers as launch, climb, gaining cruise speed, finding flight path and landing. Its main technical features are as follows:

Dimensions: 11 meters in length and 20 meters of wingspan.

Maximum speed: 482 km/h.

Flight range: up to 1,850 km.

Payload: up to 1,700 kg.

Flight time: up to 27 hours.

Flight altitude: up to 15,240 meters.

Engine: Honeywell TPE331–10GD turboprop.

Control system: autonomous that can be controlled either from the ground or from an aircraft.

Having received the drone, Ukraine, as always, has given out yet another victory howl, anticipating successful strikes of the Crimean bridge and the entire Russia as far as the Urals.

For now, Ukrainian Reapers are stationed at the Mihail Cogalniceanu airbase in Romania that surpasses even the famous Ramstein base in Germany in terms of its size and capabilities. The airbase is just 12 km from the Black Sea, 120 km from the border with Moldova, only 93 km from the border with Ukraine and 400 km from Sevastopol, which are not distances for MQ-9 Reaper. In addition, the UAVs will use Polish military airfields.

All in all, these drones will significantly enhance the Ukrainian Army’s capabilities for airstrikes with the high-precision weapons available to it. Using MQ-9, they will also be able to effectively control dozens and hundreds of drones that will make countering their air raids a very complicated task.