President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. would be sending millions of dollars in military support to Ukraine in its fight against the now three-week-old Russian invasion.
Included in the package were “tactical unmanned aerial systems.” The unmanned systems are weapons known as “Switchblade” drones.
In addition to the Switchblade drones, Ukraine will be getting 800 more Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2,000 anti-armor Javelins, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems.
Known for being light, fast and deadly, Ukraine will be getting 100 of the S-300 weapon systems.
“The United States and our allies and partners are fully committed to surging weapons of assistance to the Ukrainians, and more will be coming as we source additional stocks of equipment that we’re ready to transfer,” Biden said.
From AeroVironment Inc., the company that makes the weapons, this is what we know about the drones:
· The smallest model of the Switchblade drone would fit into a backpack.
· It files to a target and then detonates when it hits the target.
· It is flown up and above a potential target, then dives down to hit it.
· It is less than 2-feet long and weighs about 5.5 pounds. It has a range of 6.2 miles and travels between 63 and 100 mph.
· The smaller models are launched from a small tube and can fly for up to 15 minutes. The larger model — the Switchblade 600 — can fly for about 40 minutes. That version weighs about 50 pounds.
· To guide the weapons, onboard sensors and GPS are used to guide the weapons to their targets.
· There is a “wave-off” feature so that human operators can abort an attack if needed.
· They cost around $6,000 each.
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