Photo : AeroVironment / Courtesy
The United States government announced this week that it will expand the military aid it is sending to Ukraine to try to help the Ukrainian army continue to confront to the Russian troops that are invading the country.
As part of this aid, valued at about $800 million, was announced on send of 100 drones military. According to information that has transpired, it would be the AeroVironment Switchblade, miniature drones that can be easily deployed from ground positions
and that can easily attack armored units.
“These are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them in their fight against this invasion,” said President Joe Biden.
This type of kamikaze drones , are used by various branches of the United States Army, due to their small size they are not capable of transporting missiles or other types of external explosive devices. For this reason, its form of employment is to identify its objective, to later proceed to dive and self-destruct when it is close to it
.
Multiple factors make this device an extremely interesting weapon for the Ukrainian forces. The first reason is the fact that since it is an aerial vehicle whose cost ranges between $6, 000 and $80,000, the number of units that can be deployed should be significant.
Added to this is the fact that it has already been used on the battlefield by US forces in the early 1990s 2010 during the war against the Taliban.
According to army sources, the Switchblade is considered to be a kind of flying shotgun due to the way it operates and how easy it can be to use a weapon of this type.
Defense officials have pointed out that due to their characteristics the Switchblade drones could become an excellent re course so that the Ukrainian forces can attack the vehicles and Russian artillery that are close to their positions.
Another aspect that makes it a weapon that can be easily exploited by the Ukrainian army is the fact that because its weight does not exceed 2.7 kilograms it can be easily carried by soldiers using a backpack.
This is critical considering that the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones they have been using so far have a length of 6.5 meters and a weight of 650 kilograms, forcing them to take off from an airstrip, which limits their deployment range.
“This may be a long and difficult battle, but the American people are steadfast in their support for the people of Ukraine,” Biden added.
How does it work?
AeroVironment, the manufacturer of the drone, explains that the device has a flight autonomy of about 03 approximately minutes and has an optimal range mo of approximately 03 kilometers.
The Switchblade can fly at a cruising speed of 10 miles per hour, with maximum peaks of 115 mph. In addition to all this, its deployment is extremely simple because in only 10 minutes one of these aircraft can be active and flying over a battlefield.
“As a portable solution everything in one, Switchblade 600 includes everything you need to successfully plan and execute missions and can be configured and get it up and running in less than minutes. Equipped with class-leading high-resolution EO/IR gimbal sensors and advanced precision flight control, Switchblade 552 allows the warfighter quick and easy deployment via tube launch, and the ability to fly, track, and engage off the line of flight. targets in sight and armored vehicles with lethal precision effects”, the manufacturers detail on their website.
Once the Switchblade is deployed, it is operated from a tablet which allows to designate objectives and control the status of the mission in real time.
This may also interest you: – Ukraine alleges that a Russian drone entered the territory of Poland
– Poor-quality Ukrainian drones are especially effective against Russian forces: why– Biden sends drones, anti-aircraft equipment, missile launchers and other weapons to Ukraine as part of $800 millions of aid against Russia