Ukrainian Armed Forces to receive more Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones

Ukrainian troops will receive more Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones, which can significantly enhance their ability to eliminate targets behind the front line.

Newsweek reported on this.

Currently, more Switchblade 300s are used in Ukraine compared to Switchblade 600s, but according to Charlie Dean, Vice President of Global Business Development and Marketing at defense company AeroVironment, the situation will soon change.

“The Switchblade 600 is tremendously important to the defense of Ukraine,” Dean said.

The U.S. has provided several types of drones to Ukraine in military aid packages, including the Switchblade and Phoenix Ghost loitering munitions.

Switchblade, which is used by American special forces, is also actively used by Ukraine, while the Pentagon does not disclose the number of transferred drones.

Read more about Switchblade operation in an interview with a drone operator

“The U.S. has furnished Ukraine with a very large number of Switchblade 300s,” Dean said, adding that “they’ve been quickly used on the battlefield for their intended purposes.”

According to Charlie Dean, Switchblade 600s are beginning to be actively delivered to Ukraine.

“The Switchblade 600 can give Ukrainian operators a range of around 55 miles, meaning “they can destroy very important Russian assets well behind the Russian front lines, which no other weapons can do to that degree,” Dean said.

AeroVironment is learning from the example of the fighting in Ukraine.

Constant communication is maintained between the company and Switchblade operators in Ukraine, which allows them to improve or adjust drone designs within weeks. This allows for continuous improvement of the drone.

Militarnyi reported in September that Russian engineers are developing the BAS-80 loitering munition, which replicates the technical solutions of famous American Switchblade drones.