Ukraine attacks Russia with US Switchblade 600 tactical loitering munition

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) used US-made Switchblade 600 unmanned aerial vehicle for the first time in an attack on Russian territory, Shot Telegram channel reports.

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by NOAA, PDM

Switchblade 600

The attack was conducted the day before, on November 25. Russian servicemen spotted the enemy drone over the Rylsky district of the Kursk region and shot it down from a rifle.

The examination of the drone wreckage revealed that it was a Switchblade 600, a tactical loitering munition developed by US-based company AeroVironment. The drone was carrying a warhead from the American FGM-148 Javelin ATGM missile. Such drones are launched from a mortar-like transport and launch container. The UAV operator can control the vehicle for tens of kilometers.

The Switchblade 600 kamikaze drone carries an armour-piercing warhead weighing 15 kilograms. The vehicle develops a speed of up to 185 kilometers per hour and has a flight duration of up to 40 minutes.

Previously, the Armed Forces of Ukraine used only the Switchblade 300, a small portable kamikaze drone. Both models have foldable wings, which makes it possible to carry the UAV in a compact launch container and quickly prepare it for use.

Details

The AeroVironment Switchblade is a miniature loitering munition designed by AeroVironment and used by several branches of the United States military. Small enough to fit in a backpack, the Switchblade launches from a tube, flies to the target area, and crashes into its target while detonating its explosive warhead. The name Switchblade comes from how the spring-loaded wings are folded inside a tube and flipped out once released. Introduced in 2011, the original Switchblade was rebranded the Switchblade 300 after the much larger and very different Switchblade 600 anti-armour variant was unveiled in 2020. The Blackwing, an unarmed variant of the Switchblade 300, was released in 2015. More than 700 Switchblade 300 drones were sent to Ukraine by the United States as part of an arms package after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.