Kamikaze drones
“The new Switchblade-600 weapon is part of a lethal $300 million military aid announced Friday night by the Pentagon, which will be purchased directly from industry and not from existing stockpiles (US — socialbites.ca),” the Bloomberg article states.
As early as March 16, the White House said it was supplying 100 UAVs from its stockpiles to Ukraine as part of an $800 million weapons and equipment relief package. But these systems are versions of the “300 series”: 3.3-pound (2.5 kg) drones designed to attack personnel and light vehicles. They can fly about six miles (10 kilometers) and hover above a target for about 15 minutes, according to manufacturer AeroVironment Inc.
The new 50-pound (over 22kg) model, made by California company Simi Valley, can fly over 24 miles (39 kilometers) and stay in the air for 40 minutes before attacking the target with an anti-tank warhead. The drone operator uses a touchscreen tablet fire control system with the ability to manually control a stray missile.
The article states that an early version of the bomber was in service with US special forces in Afghanistan. Army officials described it as a flying shotgun.
Senior Republican lawmakers have repeatedly pushed for a model anti-tank drone, including in a March 24 letter to Secretary of Defense 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 socialbites.ca that the Switch-300, which the USA began to supply to Ukraine, is a small device. a tank to other armored vehicles” .
The Switchblade-300 can be fought even with small arms. According to the expert, the most unpleasant thing about using these drones is that they are not used alone, but in a large salvo.
“As for the Switchblade-600, since it is larger, it can be destroyed by firing from automatic anti-aircraft guns. In the case of the appearance of such ammunition in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian troops will have to increase their air defense systems, ”the statement said.
In addition to Sustalı, Ukrainian troops use Turkish Bayraktar drones. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has repeatedly reported that such UAVs were destroyed during the military special operation in Ukraine. Military expert, Arsenal editor of Anavatan magazine, Alexei Leonkov, in an interview with socialbites.ca noted that Turkish drones “do not help the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the myth about them as super drones has been dispelled.” According to him, the same fate awaits Switchblade, as they are “perfectly captured” by Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, MANPADS and short-range anti-aircraft missile systems.
Russian drones
On March 30, the Russian Ministry of Defense showed images of the combat work of the Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle crews. The ministry said multifunctional drones have been performing reconnaissance flights. Orlanlar also monitors the situation in the humanitarian corridors, where the Russian army is evacuating refugees, and on the roads used for the passage of humanitarian aid convoys.
And on March 13, the Russian Ministry of Defense for the first time published a video recording of the combat use of the imported Forpost unmanned aerial vehicle, which has recently received strike functions.
In a statement about the video, the agency said, “The multi-launch rocket launcher was destroyed by an unmanned aerial vehicle of the Russian Aviation Force with precision-guided munitions from a height of more than 3,000 meters.”
Also, the Ministry of Defense published images of the Orion attack drone, developed by the Kronstadt company 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 air bombs or guided missiles) and move at speeds up to 200 km per hour. While the specified application radius is 300 km, the device can stay in the air for 24 hours.
At the end of March, the columnist of the American magazine The National Interest Sam Cranny-Evans wrote that the Russian special operation in Ukraine is distinguished by the active use of unmanned aerial vehicles. The article says that Russian drones, specifically Orion, Orlan, Eleron and Tachyon, perform three important tasks: convoy support and anti-sabotage reconnaissance, artillery detection and fire setting, and reconnaissance and strike missions. .