US sending latest Switchblade tank-killer drones to Ukraine
- The new 600-series model can fly more than 39km and loiter 40 minutes before attacking with an anti-armour warhead
- Ten of these weapons will be included in the US$300 million in lethal military aid to Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues
The Pentagon plans to order and send to Ukraine 10 of the newest model Switchblade drones armed with tank-busting warheads in addition to previously announced deliveries of a less powerful version, according to two people familiar with the decision.
The new Switchblade-600 weapons are part of US$300 million in lethal military aid announced by the Pentagon on Friday night that will be contracted directly from industry instead of drawn from existing stocks, according to the people, who asked not to identified discussing the plan.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday confirmed the tank-killing drones, or “unmanned aerial vehicles” (UAVs) are part of the weaponry being sent to Ukraine.
The inventory of the latest round of weapons being sent to Kyiv includes “UAVs like the Switchblade UAV that is a higher level of technology but provides them additional capability to go after armour formations”, Austin said.
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Ukrainian forces train with newly delivered anti-tank weapons
The White House said on March 16 that it was supplying 100 Switchblade drones as part of a US$800 million package of weapons and gear taken from US inventories.
But those systems are the “series 300” versions: 2.5kg (3.3 pound) drones designed to attack personnel and light vehicles. They can fly about 10km (six miles) and loiter over a target roughly 15 minutes, according to a fact sheet produced by the manufacturer, AeroVironment Inc.
The new 23kg model, produced by the Simi Valley, California-based company can fly more than 39km and loiter 40 minutes before attacking with an anti-armour warhead.
The drone operator uses a tablet-based touch screen fire-control system with the option to pilot the loitering missile manually.
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The early version of the dive-bombing drone has been in the arsenal of US commandos since it was secretly sent to Afghanistan in 2010 for use against the Taliban.
Army officials have described it as a flying shotgun.
Senior Republican lawmakers, including congressman Ken Calvert, the top Republican on the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, have repeatedly pressed for the anti-armour model drone, including in a March 24 letter to the defence secretary.
Austin also defended America’s response to the war in Ukraine on Tuesday during a heated exchange with a Republican lawmaker who accused the Pentagon of overestimating Russia’s military capability.
“Has it occurred to you that Russia has not overrun Ukraine because of what we’ve done? And our allies have done? Have you ever even thought about that?,” Austin asked rhetorically to Rep. Matt Gaetz during testimony to the House Armed Services Committee.
Austin and other US officials say US support to Ukrainian forces, along with Ukraine’s strong will to fight, has thwarted Russia’s plans for a swift victory in a campaign now in its sixth week.
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General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the conflict in Ukraine could last for years.
“I do think this is a very protracted conflict and I think it is at least measured in years,” Milley told lawmakers during the same hearing.
He added that “Nato, the United States, Ukraine and all of the allies and partners that are supporting Ukraine are going to be involved in this for quite some time.”
Russian-backed separatists have already been fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014, a conflict which has killed about 15,000 people.
