The United States decided to supply Ukraine with advanced Switchblade kamikaze drones
The Pentagon plans to order and send to Ukraine 10 kamikaze Switchblade drones of the latest model, armed with anti-tank warheads, Bloomberg reports, citing sources. It is assumed that they will complement the previously announced deliveries of a less powerful version of drones.
Kamikaze Drones
"The new Switchblade-600 weapon is part of the deadly military aid (to Ukraine. - "Newspaper.Ru") in the amount of $ 300 million, announced by the Pentagon on Friday evening, which will be purchased directly from industry, and not from existing stocks (USA. - "Gazeta.Ru")," the Bloomberg article says.
Back on March 16, the White House announced that it was supplying 100 drones to Ukraine from its reserves as part of an aid package with weapons and equipment worth $ 800 million. But these systems are versions of the "300 series": drones weighing 3.3 pounds (2.5 kg), designed to attack personnel and light vehicles. According to the manufacturer AeroVironment Inc., they can fly about six miles (10 kilometers) and hover over the target for about 15 minutes.
The new 50-pound (more than 22 kg) model, produced by the California company Simi Valley, can fly more than 24 miles (39 kilometers) and stay in the air for 40 minutes before attacking a target with an anti-tank warhead. The drone operator uses a tablet fire control system with a touch screen and the ability to manually pilot a barrage missile.
The article notes that an early version of the drone bomber was in service with American special forces in Afghanistan. Army officials described it as a flying shotgun.
Senior Republican lawmakers have repeatedly insisted on creating a model of an anti-tank drone, including in a letter dated March 24 to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Turkish Bayraktar and Switchblade-300
Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, Doctor of Military Sciences Konstantin Sivkov told the newspaper.Ru", that the Switchblade-300, which the United States began to supply to Ukraine, is a small device that "does not pose any threat to the tank, to other armored vehicles."
With the Switchblade-300, you can even fight with small arms. According to the expert, the most unpleasant thing that can be in the use of these drones is not their single use, but a large volley.
"As for the Switchblade-600, since it is larger, it can be destroyed by the fire of automatic anti-aircraft guns. If such ammunition appears in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Russian troops will have to increase their air defense capabilities," Sivkov believes.
In addition to Switchblade, Ukrainian troops use Turkish Bayraktar drones. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation during the military special operation in Ukraine has repeatedly reported the destruction of UAVs of this type. Military expert, editor of the magazine "Arsenal of the Fatherland" Alexey Leonkov in an interview with "Gazeta.Ru" noted that the Turkish drones "did not help the APU, the myth of them as super-drones has been dispelled." In his opinion, Switchblade is waiting for the same fate, since "they are perfectly caught" by Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, MANPADS and short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.
Russian drones
On March 30, the Russian Defense Ministry showed footage of the combat work of calculations of unmanned aerial vehicles "Orlan-10". The department said that multifunctional drones perform reconnaissance flights. The Eagles also monitor the situation in the humanitarian corridors through which the Russian military evacuates refugees, and the situation on the roads used for the passage of convoys with humanitarian aid.
And on March 13, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the first time released a video of the combat use of the import-substituted drone "Outpost", which recently received shock functions.
"The multiple launch rocket launcher was destroyed by an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Russian Aerospace Forces from a height of more than 3 thousand meters with high-precision ammunition," the ministry said, commenting on the video.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense has published footage of the Orion attack drone, developed by Kronstadt in 2011. The wingspan of the device is 16.3 m, length - 8 m, take-off weight - 1000 kg. The device can carry a combat load with a total weight of 200 kg (four aerial bombs or guided missiles) and move at speeds up to 200 km / h. The claimed radius of application is 300 km, while the device is able to stay in the air for 24 hours.
At the end of March, Sam Cranny-Evans, a columnist for the American magazine The National Interest, wrote that the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine is distinguished by the active use of unmanned aerial vehicles. The article says that Russian drones, in particular, Orion, Orlan, Aileron and Tachyon, perform three important tasks: convoy support and anti-sabotage reconnaissance, artillery detection and fire correction, as well as providing reconnaissance and strike missions.
Maria Shustrova
