The United States has provided Ukraine with many weapons to help fight the Russian invasion. Call it Javelin anti-tank missiles and others. Recently, there is a possibility that America's advanced suicide drones will also be provided for Ukraine.
As quoted by us from NBC News, Wednesday (16/3/2022) the Joe Biden government is reportedly considering providing assistance with Switchblade 300 and 600 'suicide' drones. However, so far there has been no decision on that.
This Switchblade drone is made by the AeroVironment company and is one of the mainstays of the US military. It is nicknamed the 'kamikaze' drone because it can hit its target with a high warhead so that both are destroyed.
The Switchblade 300 which is quite small is designed to target human personnel, while the larger Switchblade 600 is intended to destroy tanks and similar vehicles.
AeroVironment itself asserts defending Ukraine in defending their homeland from Russian military attacks. "AeroVironment stands with the Ukrainian people and all NATO members," they said recently.
Coming back to Switchblade, this drone is basically a smart robotics bomb. Among other things, it is equipped with cameras, guidance systems and of course warheads to immobilize targets.
Then the Switchblade can be programmed to automatically go to targets that are located quite far away. This drone can also maneuver first while waiting for the right time to crash.
The smaller Switchblade 300 drone, measuring 610 mm in size and weighing 2.7 kilograms, is small enough for soldiers to carry. The wings are folded and only expand when airborne. It can be operated up to a distance of 10 kilometers.
As for the larger version, the Switchblade 600, it weighs up to 23 kilograms, but is still quite portable. This drone can fly up to 80 kilometers and strike targets at a speed of 185 kilometers per hour.
Switchblade operation is performed via a tablet device, either manually or automatically. The warheads, especially in the 600 variant, are designed to be able to destroy heavy vehicle materials such as tanks.
If it is true that the US will give Ukraine a Switchblade, then this will be one of the most advanced weapons against Russia. The US military itself has used it on a limited basis during the war in Afghanistan some time ago.
But there are questions as to whether the Ukrainian army can operate it quickly or require special training. So far, the UK is the only country outside the US allowed to buy Switchblade.