[Epoch Times, March 17, 2022](Epoch Times reporter Xia Yu comprehensive report) On Wednesday (March 16), Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the POLITICO,” the U.S. will send 100 Switchblade drones to Ukraine as part of the Biden administration’s new $800 million weapons program.
The dive-bomb-style “tactical” drone represents a new phase in U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine, which have so far been mostly anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. An administration official also confirmed McCall’s claim that the United States was sending switchblade drones.
Known as the “Kamikaze Drone” by outsiders, the Switchblade Drone is a small, lightweight drone that cruises at 63 miles per hour, can hover in the air for up to 30 minutes, and then An operator on the ground ten miles away leads to the target. Drones are fired from tubes, like mortar rounds. Its real-time GPS guidance system allows field service personnel to drive it until it hits its target like a bomb, and perishes with it.
The weapon was originally deployed in Afghanistan by U.S. special operations forces, but was quickly adopted by the Army and Marine Corps, who saw the value in light, precision munitions that could help thwart enemy ambush or destroy enemy vehicles.
Army officials call the drone a flying shotgun. Bloomberg reported that a senior U.S. defense official described the drone the U.S. will send as a powerful weapon. It can fit in a backpack and cost as little as $6,000.
AeroVironment, based in Arlington, Virginia, was awarded a $20.3 million contract by U.S. Special Operations Command in September 2021 to upgrade the Switchblade 600 series of missile systems, Bloomberg reported. Delivery is scheduled for January 2023.
The Ukrainian military already has a fleet of Turkish-made drones that can drop precision-guided weapons. A senior Pentagon official said this week that Ukraine has been using the drones effectively.
On February 27, the Ukrainian armed forces released a video of a drone destroying Russian armored facilities, saying it was an attack on the Russian BUK surface-to-air missile system.
McCall also said the United States is “working with allies” to send more S-300 surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine. Ukraine has had S-300s for years, so soldiers should not need training. Slovakia has tentatively agreed to transfer its S-300 systems to Ukraine, CNN reported.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced $800 million in new military aid to Ukraine, including air defense systems, drones and other weapons. This is a new round of US support following an urgent request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The new aid will provide 800 air defense systems, which can combat aircraft; 9,000 anti-armor systems, which can help destroy tanks and armored vehicles; 7,000 small arms, such as machine guns and shotguns; and a total of 20 million rounds, including artillery and mortars Cannon, etc.
Responsible editor: Ye Ziwei#