The Pentagon has ordered Switchblade kamikaze drones for Ukraine

The US Department of Defense will award a $17.8 million contract for the industry to produce and ship the Switchblade drones to Ukraine.

CNN reports on the agreement being signed.

The announcement of the kamikaze drones purchase was made by Dr. William A. LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, on May 6.

According to him, the signing of the agreement was to occur on Friday.

These drones will be purchased under the $300 million of Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding approved within the Ukraine aid supplemental funding, which was passed in mid-March.

La Plante clarifies that the out of that package, so far $136.8 million in weapons had overall been purchased.

This amount included purchasing and shipping the “unmanned aerial systems, namely Pumas, advanced precision kill weapon system, communication devices, combat medical equipment and supplies, meals ready to eat (probably military packed lunches – Ed.), even binoculars,” LaPlante said.

Also, according to him, the US Department of Defense is currently increasing the stockpile of Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger MANPADS, along with key components for those missiles as part of another package of assistance to Ukraine.

Yesterday it was reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine started to use the ammunition (kamikaze drones) transferred to the United States to fight against the invaders.

Switchblade is a product of the American company AeroVironment. According to the open data, there are two versions of this innovative ammunition: Switchblade 300 and Switchblade 600.

Switchblade 600:
Range – 40 km
Flight duration – 40 minutes
Weight – 54.4 kg
Flight altitude – 150-4500 m
Cruising speed – 110 km/h
Top speed – 185 km/h

Ukraine has also started its work on creating a “Defense Industry Development Program.” The establishment of service and repair centers for the main range of foreign equipment to be supplied to Ukraine is currently underway.