On Wednesday, March 16, US President Joe Biden announced the sending of “longer-range” anti-aircraft weapons and 100 US drones to Ukraine to maintain strong resistance against Vladimir Putin's invading troops.
In the case of drones, these are the Switchblades, manufactured by the American company AeroVironment, also known as “kamikaze drones” or “suicide missiles”, which thanks to their light size - similar to that of a baguette - have great precision and are more subtle than, for example, the Javelin anti-tank missiles, also supplied by United States forces.
There are two models of these “loitering ammunition”. The Switchblade 300 are the smallest. They measure about 30 centimeters, weigh almost 2.5 kilograms, and are thrown from a small tube resembling a mortar. With a precision attack with advanced ammunition, they have a range of 10 kilometers and a range of 15 minutes. Its cruising speed is 101 kilometers per hour, and the racing speed is 161 kilometers per hour. They operate at an altitude lower than 152 meters.
Its warhead, the size of a grenade, is effective against unarmored vehicles and groups of troops; it cannot penetrate the armor of tanks.
The other model is the Switchblade 600. Compared to the previous ones, they are larger and more effective against armored targets: they weigh about 22.5 kilograms and measure 1.3 meters. They feature precision attack with anti-armor warhead, which makes it useful against vehicles. They have an operating altitude of less than 200 meters, their range is 40 kilometers, and the flight range is 40 minutes. The cruising and running speeds are 113 and 185 kilometres per hour, respectively.
Both models are operated with a tablet, can be set up in minutes and, according to AeroVironment, they can easily circumvent Russian air defenses because they are difficult to detect by radar.
While the US authorities did not detail which model will be sent to Ukraine, it is presumed that they would be the first, the Switchblade 300. These can be very important to Ukrainian forces as cities in the country are increasingly subjected to heavy artillery shelling.
An article published by The Economist quotes Nick Reynolds, an analyst at Rusi, a British defense study center, who explains that such drones can be used in particularly against artillery batteries, whether cannons or rocket launchers, since they are targets that are “softer” than tanks.
Robert Bunker, director of research and analysis at c/o Futures, a California security consultancy, adds that the accuracy offered by Switchblade allows you to focus on high-value targets: not just artillery targets, but also on artillery unit headquarters and command vehicles.
The close-up vision offered by the optical camera and infrared thermal camera on board the ship allows you to choose the lenses with special care and precision. The video from these sensors, as well as GPS information and image processing, are used to guide the drone. Switchblade is also designed to receive guidance information from other drones, allowing you to track and find selected targets. This makes it a weapon among many others that can be directed against a target with the information provided by other drones.
In addition, if the operator realizes that he has made a mistake while the drone is approaching, or even observes that civilians are nearby, he can suspend the attack and divert the drone until another target is identified. This is an advantage that Switchblades have over other types of marauders, such as armed drones. For example, the Bayraktar tb2, carriers of missiles from Turkey, helped Ukraine establish its defense in the early stages of the war. However, they are the size of a light aircraft and require considerable support infrastructure, such as airstrips and refueling facilities.
A Switchblade, on the other hand, can be carried in a backpack (it is the size of a baguette) and unfolded when needed. It is also cheaper, easier to distribute and can be operated with minimal training.
“[Unlike] radio-controlled devices, the operator does not pilot the aircraft, it simply indicates what he wants to look at, what he wants the camera to point, and the on-board computer flies the aircraft to that point and stays on target,” Steve Gitlin, marketing director of AeroVironment, explained to The War Zone in 2020. “We have a similar capability in our tactical drone systems. You could set a target and the aircraft would basically hold its position on that target, autonomously.”
A month after the start of the Russian invasion, which has already left millions displaced and thousands of people killed and injured, Ukrainian forces are well prepared to use the Switchblades. In fact, long ago, even before the war with Russia, the Ukrainian military authorities realized that loitering munitions could be effective in the face of Putin's threat.
In 2017, the government of Volodymyr Zelensky signed an agreement with wb Group, a Polish electronics company, to purchase supplies from its marauder launcher Warmate. However, legal problems interfered with its planned deployment last year. For this reason, last December, the Ministry of Defence announced that loitering ammunition units would be formed within the Ukrainian army.
In addition, several Ukrainian companies are already developing marauders. The most advanced project is that of Athlon Avia, one of the many companies that emerged to help the armed forces before, during and after the 2014 Crimean crisis. Three other companies - Adrones, cdet and Cobra - are working on the development of these kamikaze drones.
Ukrainian forces already have a fleet of Turkish-made drones that drop precisely guided weapons. They also have “The Punisher”, which is relatively small and agile, which can travel up to 48 kilometers behind Russian enemy lines and is extremely difficult to detect. When it flies about 400 meters, it can stay in the air for several hours.
As Ukraine tries to stock up, as it can, with more weapons, shipments continue to arrive from its allies, such as the United States. In addition to the Switchblade, the Biden government also announced the provision of 800 anti-aircraft missiles, 9,000 anti-armor shells, 6,000 rocket launchers, 1,000 lighter weapons to destroy armored vehicles, as well as grenade launchers, rifles, pistols, machine guns, shotguns and millions of bullets. However, according to Washington, it is the kamikaze drones - which have already been used by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan against the Taliban - “that will deal the definitive blow to Russia.”
Keep reading: