The United States began sending its $800 million worth of economic and military aid to Ukraine, which was announced last Wednesday following a telephone conversation between Joe Bien and Volodymyr Zelensky.
The shipment includes some of the “very effective equipment we have already delivered” to Ukraine, but also “new capabilities”, including “artillery systems”, Switchblade drones and “armored means of transport”, says the government, which claims to have given the green light to the shipment of additional helicopters.
These drones would allow Kiev's forces to balance Russian superiority in what is heralded as the decisive battle of the conflict, in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops had already received a significant amount of anti-tank Nlaw and Javelin missiles from Britain, which seem to have played a decisive role in containing the advance of the Russians, but this new US suicide drone could further tip the scales in favor of the invaded country.
Switchblade drones, 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 and fit in a backpack. 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.”
U.S. AID
Until now, the United States had been reluctant to hand over the heavy equipment that Ukrainians were asking for, claiming that this would only further fuel the tension between Washington and Moscow, with the risk that the Americans would be considered to be involved in the war. However, the White House seems to abandon the distinction it made between the delivery of “defensive” equipment, which it authorized, and the “offensive” ones, which it refused to supply.
The United States has provided Ukraine with most of the international military aid received by Kiev in recent months. The total amount of aid granted, before Wednesday's announcement, reached 2.4 billion dollars (2,206 million euros).
According to a list released last week by the White House, so far the United States has provided or promised Ukraine 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, another 7,000 anti-tank weapons, hundreds of Switchblade kamikaze drones, 7,000 assault rifles, 50 million bullets and ammunition, 45,000 batches of bulletproof vests and helmets, laser-guided rockets, Puma drones, anti-artillery and drone radars, light armored vehicles, secure communication systems and mine protection.
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