The department is actively trying to conclude a contract for the purchase of 10 (unmanned aerial vehicles) Switchblade 600 (…) The date of delivery of which will be determined after the award of the contract Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell said Wednesday.
Machines from the oldest 300 series
The United States has committed to implementing Ukraine at least 700 Switchblade DronesAnd about 100 have already been donated. These were machines of the older 300 series, weighing 2.5 kg and designed to attack soldiers and light vehicles. It has a range of about 10 kilometers and can stay in the air above a target for 15 minutes, according to company data AeroVironmentthat developed unmanned aerial vehicles.
New Switchblade 600 Drones
New series machines Switch Blade 600, manufactured by the Californian company Simi Valley, which weighs about 23 kilograms, can fly more than 38 kilometers and stay in the air 40 minutes before the attack, in which it uses an anti-tank warhead. The operator has a tablet with an impact control system at his disposal, a bullet It can be controlled manually, Bloomberg explained.
The new Switchblade 600 drones will be purchased for less than their value 300 million dollars A bundle of lethal weapons will be donated Ukraine Pursuant to a decision announced by the Pentagon in April. Last week, the Department of Defense placed an order with AeroVironment for another 300 Switchblade 300 Series UAVs for $17.8 million. This brings the total demand for these machines to 144 million dollars.
