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I wish more people would talk about the Switchblade loitering munitions (kamikaze) drones. We've already had western made drones on the battlefield for decades
by ChuckNorris89 5y ago
I wish more people would talk about the Switchblade loitering munitions (kamikaze) drones.
We've already had western made drones on the battlefield for decades, this is nothing new, just much cheaper than what the west makes while doing the same job equally good.
But the man portable kamikaze drones are the real game changer.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G9xLyNfPzQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G9xLyNfPzQ
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv8Flu533xE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv8Flu533xE
- famil 5y agoArtillery with spotters accomplished the same task.
- ChuckNorris89 5y agoExcept you can't survey an area with a an artillery warhead. Sure, you can use your spotters to scout ahead, but why put them in danger of an ambush and have them get killed by a sniper or hidden machinegun, when you can survey that area from a safe distance, and take out the sniper/machine gun if you see one? This is not meant to replace artillery battalions and scouts, but to complement them.
- greedo 5y agoCheaper to use a drone for spotting instead of a FIST unit. That's what's working for the UA. Kamikaze drones have a role for the smaller units, but at the battalion level, it's better to use a surveillance drone to coordinate fires from mortars, MLRS and artillery. The rounds fired from these systems typically have longer range than a drone, a higher rate of fire, and larger warheads.
- glogla 5y agoI think these are pretty complementary. Switchblade 300 is a 10km range Javelin (same warhead in fact) with integrated surveillance capability that can go beyond range of sight. It is not there to replace mortars, artillery and MRLS, which are area weapons.
- thelittleone 5y agoThe switchblade 300 has the same warhead as a javelin? Got a source for that?
- foxyv 5y agoIt's the 600 with the tank buster.
- openasocket 5y agoswitchblade 600 has the Javelin-like warhead, switchblade 300 has something equivalent to a 40mm grenade for a warhead
- kevin_thibedeau 5y agoThe 300 is the low collateral assassination drone when you can't use sword bombs.
- gpderetta 5y agoArtillery has been used by Ukraine, and by a lesser extent by Russia, extremely effectively as a precision weapon against all kind of targets, including MBTs.
- gpderetta 5y agoIn fact it seems to me that overall drones as artillery spotters have been much more impactful than direct fire drones in this war.
- alkonaut 5y agoYou can survey with a drone. Merging the observation with the munition is what makes it a loitering munition, but drones for observation/targeting/correction + traditional corrected or guided artillery is very similar (especially guided shells like Excalibur etc which are also themselves similar to loitering munitions just that they loiter very briefly…)
- melling 5y agoI’ve heard varying numbers about the range of the artillery. Somewhere between 15 and 45 miles. Whatever the range, hundreds of drones covering the country could allow for extreme precision.
- sitkack 5y agoSame task, totally different logistics. You can put the spotter and the artillery in your backpack? The task is only one part of the equation.