Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - armourersbench.com/2022/06/19/switchblade-loitering-munitions-in-ukraine/ Check out the weapons in Ukraine playlist here: th-cam.com/play/PLt7Io-OQBYSpPwU2o06V67DBI_aKEfeNn.html If you'd like to support our work check out the TAB patreon: www.patreon.com/thearmourersbench Thanks! - Matt
Considering its only 100 kamikaze drones and not all will work, I would expect assassination units to get all of them. They make the most sense to be used against high value (but easily destroyed) targets like command vehicles/suspected officer meetings vehicles. And against Anti Artillery Radar vehicles.
After almost 2 years of war in Ukraine we can with 1000% guarantee say that switchblades doesn't work well . mavic or fpv working more effective and efficient . Usa lost antitank drones battle .
Most people have never seen what that type of munitions does. They see a grey poof, and don't realize that there are thousands of little jagged metal fragments thrown out, and what that can do to people. In OIF 1, we had never fired HEDP in training. First time we threw some down range, we were all disappointed in the anemic little blooms of smoke...until we got close, and saw what damage they do. You just gotta get close, and people are turned into smears and disembodied limbs.
On the few occasions I have lobbed a grenade its been during live fire training for advance to contact. In goes the grenade, you get your head down until it goes thump and then put a full mag into the gun position. Its not until you check the figure 11 target after wards to see what you hit that you find that it looks like its been stabbed a dozen times with a thin bladed knife. Each hole being a piece of the pre-notched coiled wire inside the grenade. There's no flame or "boom" or stunning flash. Just razor sharp metal in the air.
@@josedorsaith5261 Fix the disguised Claymores (Behind a painting, etc) at head height and it makes a real mess in a people filled corridor. Decapitating special.
Many countries have banned cluster-munitions because of the horror that they cause. I mean hollow-pointed rounds are banned for the same reason. And here you are bragging about the damage it can inflict on another human. This is sickening. This coming from someone who was a 21 J/E Engineer in the U.S. Army.
Switchblade 300 definitely would give a soldier at the front pause about where is a safe place to rest or stop at. Switchblade 600 will play hell with Russian howitzer emplacements once they are available in large numbers. Not to mention who wants to be a truck driver delivering shells to the front.
I helped prototype the launcher for the Switchblade 600. Somewhat surreal seeing them make it into a large scale conflict. From my perspectives one of the biggest influences on the battlefield now and in the future will be Electronic Warfare and how you counter it.
Wow interesting, I can certainly imagine how that is a strange feeling. Absolutely agree, that aspect of the war is pretty underreported too it seems. Wondering how effective both sides' electronic warfare capabilities are.
I tend to agree as well. One of the biggest stories that didn’t make a lot of news was Ukraine capturing one of Russia’s most advanced Electronic Warfare Stations. They sent that unit to the United States for evaluation. Having that captured technology is a major asset to the United States and it’s ally’s.
As ukrainian i know people that use swithchblade300/600 in their unite i have controversial feadback Swithblade - 300 is universaly regarded(in different units) as TRASH (positive feedback is small )[30/70%] main downsides 1)Vulnerable to electronic warfare (pilot will lose contact after it hit [ electronic warfare zone] it would fly 300-500m and fall to the ground ) 2)very few explosives and polymeric hull don't give any fragments(its very hard to kill someone unless dirrect hit) 3)0 armor penetration positives{ 1 )its light-weight } Swithblade - 600 { in every way better than 300 and has a lot of possitive feedback}
@@98RandR warmate's were used in 2014 and right now ,well kamikadze drones in general are susceptible to electronic warfare but warmates were produced in ukraine also so they have several modifications i can't really say alot about them because i don't know anyone that used them recently
@@MrDK0010 for a while I was so convinced that I had seen the NLAW before seeing it in Ukraine but I could not remember where. play Battlefield 4 again and it hit me instantly. the MBT-LAW lmao
From what I've heard (an opinion from Jarosław Wolski, Polish miliary analyst and OSINT gatherer) Switchblades turned out to be unsuitable for the modern battlefield - they're supposedly unable to operate wherever Russians are using their EW equipment.
i read in a telegram channel of Ukraine war that the ukrainian soldiers prefer to use commercial drones modified to launch grenades than the switchblade, because are easier to use and they don't think that is worth it, and they think that they give some electronic parts intact to the russians that can use them to make similar engineering...
I can definitely see the logic behind thst. Working on a video on munition dropping drones at the moment and they are much more prolific and unlike the switchblade they can return if they aren't used. Both systems have their pros and cons. It's a really interesting time for this tech.
@Grim FPV inna country that has a sanction of microchips and essential electronic components is a good gift ... today maybe is not important, but in few months you will see...
I'm really curious to see what the munition development will look like in the next 5-10 years. Given the small form, I'm curious to see if they would be able to use thermo aric / shaped charge munitions. Could be a longer-ranged version of the Thermobaric grenades that the Russians developed for the GM-94
Imagine flying a Switchblade 600 into the barrel or the breech assembly of a Russian Howitzer or the roof of their SPAAGs, or on the loaded tubes on their MLRS. Counter-battery loitering munition. The ground warfare equivalent of SEAD. Secondaries ahoy.
Just like the introduction of guns, it no longer matters who's the strongest and best trained with a sword. Now a whole Navy Seal team or anti aircraft system could be taken out by a single person with one of these drones. And there's not much preventing thousands of these being used, just the production capacity of the country.
This is the first time I have seen one of these in combat. Looks to be very effective at soft targets. The entire system looks small and light enough for one man to carry without too much trouble, and you can launch it well outside of sight line of the target. You can change your mind and engage another target up until it is detonated. It also does not look all that expensive to produce relatively speaking. I mean the defense department is WAY overpaying like they always do per unit but it is still cheaper than many weapon systems of this capability.
Not much more than a longdistance handgrenade. Its an expensive delivery system for such a small effect... I'd rater cary a dedicated observation drone and more grenades.
The Ukrainians seem to be doing a pretty good job with their drone-dropped unguided 30mm & 40mm "cartoon-bombs" - all the best to the Switchblades though :)
Switchblade is great as-is, but seems a waste of potential in its expendable configuration. If it dropped its payload in a dive-bombing attack, accuracy would be nearly identical, but the system could return home to be rearmed and relaunched far more quickly and cheaply than procuring a new unit.
Yah but then it's gotta be made to last multiple missions and be able to get back ECT which means larger batteries or more fuel Why do all that when computers and cameras are so cheap and readily available.
@@jakehansen3418 Considering its substantial loiter time includes the weight of the explosive payload, the extra battery capacity to return-home once the payload is dropped should be relatively small. Though yes; this would cut into the flight performance or explosive payload mass. Switchblade might be cheap compared to guided missiles, but it's still several thousand dollars. And that cost, added onto *every* strike, means a substantial reduction in the number of strikes you can afford to perform. A fully reusable drone-bomber enables a scale of attack more like massed artillery. Where a constant swarm of drones flies back and forth from the frontline, delivering precision strikes against designated targets. And you can *build up to* that overwhelming swarm of drones, because you're *adding* a new drone to the fleet every purchase, instead of just replacing those you expended in a prior attack.
An interesting series for sure. However what has the impact been in the war so far of the Switchblade family ? After all the initial hoopla , one hears nothing . One has to suspect a damp squib.
The 300 might be good for use by SF/Partisans in Ruzzian "safe" areas possibly? EW is unlikely to be everywhere and potentially it is a target rich environment. Also what a ball breaker for morale if used in "rest" areas....
Depends if indeed if it was a successful strike. The detonation sensor may have triggered too early. I expect they intended to put it through the embrasure. The minimal collateral damage claim is obviously comparative with a larger munition within the context of Afghanistan. I think the payload probably isn't much more than a 40mm grenade.
If I were the manufacturer of these Switchblades, I'd be asking myself some hard questions about how sub-$1500 commercial drones are replicating the effects of my munitions that undoubtedly cost ten times as much.
As someone who’s flown both quads and fixed wing drones. Give me a quad for control and loitering and stable footage any day of the week. It appears to have automated targeting but, considering an off the shelf DJI for $1200 is 100x reusable, and has a far far superior video link, stabilizes camera, zoom and various off the shelf GPS feedback capabilities, RTH, waypoint etc…. this switch blade is useless, and I bet you they cost more then 10k each.
Americké ministerstvo obrany hodlá ročně investovat do programu Replicator 500 milionů dolarů (11,34 miliardy Kč), uvádí Reuters. Otázkou je, zda právě Switchblade 600 naplňuje představy o levných dronech, protože cena jednoho menšího Switchblade 300 je přes 1,1 milionu korun,
Looks a bit crap for 6 thousand dollars each, I bet the Iranian ones are much simpler and afraction of the cost. 3D printed on a desktop and all the bits brought off Alibarber for 20 bucks.
The 300s just seem too weak, only suitable against the softest of targets. Against a single infantryman, hopefully hitting him really damn well because, armour, helmets and light cover may well stop it. I can see the theory of using them in huge masses due to a cheap price point, but even at a scale of a thousand at a time they just seem ineffective. And once you get into more, jamming becomes a serious issue.
The munician looks successful in the videos. The enemy is forced to retreat and seek cover. Granted, not as sexy as watching a tank blowup, but still a vital part of operations.
The 300 is intended to kill troops not vehicles or tanks. It’s original intended use was to engage targets that your other weapons couldnt reach with direct fire if you had no other support. For this it is well suited.
Ого! Американцы снабжают Россию новейшими технологиями! Бесплатно! Сами! Понятно, что все эти новинки будут просто отобраны россиянами у украинцев и тщательно изучены!
so basically gamechangeblade is useless in this war. such complex system just to spook some russian or catch some idiots in the open isnt worth effort. with being useless, doing recon, spooking russians and catching idiots in the open any cheap diy drone made here would be sufficient enough. those money couldve being used for some other weapons that actually needed more... or just for some huge mass of commercial drones for army to use here.
Russia just send very many T64 to Lugansk , maybe as many as 200 such tanks ! Ukraine need to kill them on a distance of 50 km !!! Swichblade 300 is only meant to hit infantry
Not much need for AI here. Autopilot can already do 90% of the legwork bringing the drone from launch to target, potentially allowing one operator to pilot a dozen or so systems simultaneously, only needing to perform final target designation or corrective actions. Reusability is the big next step for these kamikaze drones in my opinion. Dive-bomb and fly home. That way the swarm of drones becomes its own miniature airforce, making dozens of strikes per drone per day. Brings the cost per-strike down from thousands of dollars to the hundred dollars or so for a new warhead and a fresh battery.
It looks dangerous to launch? Remember anything with tits or wheels is going to give u provlems and if anything doesn't work exactly the way it is supposed to... it would be bad! Just saying! Hopefully the 600 is better
I mena I doubt its anything that they couldn’t figure out on their own. And the Russians can’t exactly replace their tank losses, let alone manufacture new modern drones.
Putin has great anti-aircraft protection. So does the Ukraine. So most of these switchblade drones have a life-expectancy of around 3-4 hours, if that, including practice. Snipers shoot them down. Likewise they get attacked by anti-drone drones
Lol snipers shooting down drones. The switchblade can not hover and is constantly moving. Additionally AA systems are almost non existent for drones this size and are not readily available to the common soldier. There is essentially no counter to these in the Ukraine theater as of now.
@@hihfty Yea but they give distinct sound when attacking, from one of Chechen mercenary. BTW the Russian also deploy similar weapon, the KYB, they also use jammer to prevent drone attack.
@@yulusleonard985 True, although with many types of munitions if you can hear it than the round wasn’t for you. But you are correct that jamming systems do exist but as we have seen through out this war no one has been competent enough to deploy them effectively. It’s been free reign to how ever the attacker is. You would hope that if America was inserted in this scenario that drone attacks would be minimal and contested.
Can we please get back to weapons, not politics? And please stop with this "In Ukraine" pseudo-series on the conflict in ukraine. We have no way of telling through the fog of war if a particular weapon system works well "in ukraine." It may be years or decades before the extent of this conflict is found.
None of this is politics. None of it. This is a round up of evidence of use of a weapon system via open source intelligence sources. This is one day going to be history. I'm combining my day jobs of working in defence journalism and being a historian to look at things as they are on going. You can complain all you like but my work on this 'pseudo-series' as you call it is amongst the least politically bias you'll find on here. Thanks for watching.
@@TheArmourersBench I don't know where this guy is coming from. I didn't see anything "political" about your videos. You are doing very good in just reporting on the reports available. Don't get discouraged because of someone who doesn't know what he is talking about. The rest of us are thankful for your efforts.
Thanks for watching!
Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here -
armourersbench.com/2022/06/19/switchblade-loitering-munitions-in-ukraine/
Check out the weapons in Ukraine playlist here: th-cam.com/play/PLt7Io-OQBYSpPwU2o06V67DBI_aKEfeNn.html
If you'd like to support our work check out the TAB patreon:
www.patreon.com/thearmourersbench
Thanks! - Matt
Considering its only 100 kamikaze drones and not all will work, I would expect assassination units to get all of them. They make the most sense to be used against high value (but easily destroyed) targets like command vehicles/suspected officer meetings vehicles. And against Anti Artillery Radar vehicles.
After almost 2 years of war in Ukraine we can with 1000% guarantee say that switchblades doesn't work well . mavic or fpv working more effective and efficient . Usa lost antitank drones battle .
Most people have never seen what that type of munitions does. They see a grey poof, and don't realize that there are thousands of little jagged metal fragments thrown out, and what that can do to people.
In OIF 1, we had never fired HEDP in training. First time we threw some down range, we were all disappointed in the anemic little blooms of smoke...until we got close, and saw what damage they do. You just gotta get close, and people are turned into smears and disembodied limbs.
Claymores are similar. They look relatively unimpressive, until you get to see what hundreds of metal BBs can do to anything within 20 ft
On the few occasions I have lobbed a grenade its been during live fire training for advance to contact. In goes the grenade, you get your head down until it goes thump and then put a full mag into the gun position. Its not until you check the figure 11 target after wards to see what you hit that you find that it looks like its been stabbed a dozen times with a thin bladed knife. Each hole being a piece of the pre-notched coiled wire inside the grenade. There's no flame or "boom" or stunning flash. Just razor sharp metal in the air.
@@zoiders And I can add from experience, those metal sprinkles are not tasty.
@@josedorsaith5261 Fix the disguised Claymores (Behind a painting, etc) at head height and it makes a real mess in a people filled corridor. Decapitating special.
Many countries have banned cluster-munitions because of the horror that they cause. I mean hollow-pointed rounds are banned for the same reason. And here you are bragging about the damage it can inflict on another human. This is sickening. This coming from someone who was a 21 J/E Engineer in the U.S. Army.
Switchblade 300 definitely would give a soldier at the front pause about where is a safe place to rest or stop at. Switchblade 600 will play hell with Russian howitzer emplacements once they are available in large numbers. Not to mention who wants to be a truck driver delivering shells to the front.
With video evidence, the only suicide drones to have played with howitzers so far have been the Russian kub drones.
On m777 howitzers no less.
I helped prototype the launcher for the Switchblade 600. Somewhat surreal seeing them make it into a large scale conflict. From my perspectives one of the biggest influences on the battlefield now and in the future will be Electronic Warfare and how you counter it.
Wow interesting, I can certainly imagine how that is a strange feeling. Absolutely agree, that aspect of the war is pretty underreported too it seems. Wondering how effective both sides' electronic warfare capabilities are.
I tend to agree as well. One of the biggest stories that didn’t make a lot of news was Ukraine capturing one of Russia’s most advanced Electronic Warfare Stations. They sent that unit to the United States for evaluation. Having that captured technology is a major asset to the United States and it’s ally’s.
@@sethrich5998 I like your cover name - never forget.
@@user936 Would you believe it’s actually my real name. lol
@@sethrich5998 😂 well I'm just glad you didn't get gotten!
As ukrainian i know people that use swithchblade300/600 in their unite i have controversial feadback
Swithblade - 300 is universaly regarded(in different units) as TRASH (positive feedback is small )[30/70%]
main downsides
1)Vulnerable to electronic warfare (pilot will lose contact after it hit [ electronic warfare zone] it would fly 300-500m and fall to the ground )
2)very few explosives and polymeric hull don't give any fragments(its very hard to kill someone unless dirrect hit)
3)0 armor penetration
positives{
1 )its light-weight
}
Swithblade - 600
{
in every way better than 300 and has a lot of possitive feedback}
Thanks Michael, very, very interesting! I wonder how many 600s have made it over.
Do you know how does it compare to wb electronics warmate?
I hear the same thing, that reusable off the shelf drones with munitions attached are preferred over the 300 because of cost and payload
Plus they're reusable too.
@@98RandR warmate's were used in 2014 and right now ,well kamikadze drones in general are susceptible to electronic warfare but warmates were produced in ukraine also so they have several modifications i can't really say alot about them because i don't know anyone that used them recently
If Battlefield 4 is anything to go off of, the switchblade (UCAV from bf4 is a switchblade) spam will be a threat once these are more common.
**Operation Locker spawnkill flashbacks intensify**
Man, Battlefield 4's MBT-LAW and UCAV sure have become relevant.
@@josedorsaith5261 Operation Locker = Azovstal.
Battlefield 4 predicted modern warfare of UCAV spam and guys taking out tanks with NLAWs
the ucav spam is still horrible. fucking darth ucav.
@@MrDK0010 for a while I was so convinced that I had seen the NLAW before seeing it in Ukraine but I could not remember where. play Battlefield 4 again and it hit me instantly. the MBT-LAW lmao
From what I've heard (an opinion from Jarosław Wolski, Polish miliary analyst and OSINT gatherer) Switchblades turned out to be unsuitable for the modern battlefield - they're supposedly unable to operate wherever Russians are using their EW equipment.
Have read the same thread. Have also read suggestions of this elsewhere too and certainly seems like a credible suggestion.
0:15 that Red Bull in the back is one hell of a good advertisement for Red Bull
i read in a telegram channel of Ukraine war that the ukrainian soldiers prefer to use commercial drones modified to launch grenades than the switchblade, because are easier to use and they don't think that is worth it, and they think that they give some electronic parts intact to the russians that can use them to make similar engineering...
I can definitely see the logic behind thst. Working on a video on munition dropping drones at the moment and they are much more prolific and unlike the switchblade they can return if they aren't used. Both systems have their pros and cons. It's a really interesting time for this tech.
Yeah, switchblade being a kamikaze drone instead of dive-bombing and returning home for reuse really limits its potential and inflates its cost.
@Grim FPV inna country that has a sanction of microchips and essential electronic components is a good gift ... today maybe is not important, but in few months you will see...
The Russians had similar tech though.
@@joeo2533 hahaha, nice joke...
I'm really curious to see what the munition development will look like in the next 5-10 years. Given the small form, I'm curious to see if they would be able to use thermo aric / shaped charge munitions.
Could be a longer-ranged version of the Thermobaric grenades that the Russians developed for the GM-94
I believe from the touted specs the 600 will be a shaped charge and it'll engages much as an ATGM does.
@@TheArmourersBench
Thanks for the info. I'll have to keep an eye on this.
Pretty cool weapon for reconnaissance teams.
Not a huge payload but still plenty of juicy, unsuspecting targets for it.
Extremely professional!!!!!!!! Question: the 300 switch blade can be effective against ammunition depots?????
Great video
Podobno słabo się teraz sprawują na Ukrainie,bo są skutecznie zagłuszane
Ukrainians can use all the help we can give them.
why no self destruct of electronics
Very interesting, thank you!
Thanks Matt!
Imagine flying a Switchblade 600 into the barrel or the breech assembly of a Russian Howitzer or the roof of their SPAAGs, or on the loaded tubes on their MLRS.
Counter-battery loitering munition. The ground warfare equivalent of SEAD. Secondaries ahoy.
Wouldn't be easier to shoot a pile of ammunition for artillery next to piece. Since probably create a huge explosion.
It frightens me to think what the battlefield will entail in 20 years.
Just like the introduction of guns, it no longer matters who's the strongest and best trained with a sword.
Now a whole Navy Seal team or anti aircraft system could be taken out by a single person with one of these drones.
And there's not much preventing thousands of these being used, just the production capacity of the country.
Probably AI systems will be fighting each other long after the last human is gone.
On the other hand the stock market will be great 🤣
This is the first time I have seen one of these in combat. Looks to be very effective at soft targets. The entire system looks small and light enough for one man to carry without too much trouble, and you can launch it well outside of sight line of the target. You can change your mind and engage another target up until it is detonated. It also does not look all that expensive to produce relatively speaking. I mean the defense department is WAY overpaying like they always do per unit but it is still cheaper than many weapon systems of this capability.
Not much more than a longdistance handgrenade.
Its an expensive delivery system for such a small effect...
I'd rater cary a dedicated observation drone and more grenades.
The Ukrainians seem to be doing a pretty good job with their drone-dropped unguided 30mm & 40mm "cartoon-bombs" - all the best to the Switchblades though :)
Imagine if these were filled with a sticky termite goo. Would be absolute catastrophic.
Switchblade is great as-is, but seems a waste of potential in its expendable configuration. If it dropped its payload in a dive-bombing attack, accuracy would be nearly identical, but the system could return home to be rearmed and relaunched far more quickly and cheaply than procuring a new unit.
Yah but then it's gotta be made to last multiple missions and be able to get back ECT which means larger batteries or more fuel
Why do all that when computers and cameras are so cheap and readily available.
@@jakehansen3418 Considering its substantial loiter time includes the weight of the explosive payload, the extra battery capacity to return-home once the payload is dropped should be relatively small. Though yes; this would cut into the flight performance or explosive payload mass.
Switchblade might be cheap compared to guided missiles, but it's still several thousand dollars. And that cost, added onto *every* strike, means a substantial reduction in the number of strikes you can afford to perform.
A fully reusable drone-bomber enables a scale of attack more like massed artillery. Where a constant swarm of drones flies back and forth from the frontline, delivering precision strikes against designated targets. And you can *build up to* that overwhelming swarm of drones, because you're *adding* a new drone to the fleet every purchase, instead of just replacing those you expended in a prior attack.
At $6,000 a drone the lives of Russian soldiers and their equipment become very inexpensive to eliminate.
An interesting series for sure. However what has the impact been in the war so far of the Switchblade family ? After all the initial hoopla , one hears nothing . One has to suspect a damp squib.
Just a mouthful for hungry Pantsirs.
Good to invest in AeroVironment
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching!
The 300 might be good for use by SF/Partisans in Ruzzian "safe" areas possibly? EW is unlikely to be everywhere and potentially it is a target rich environment. Also what a ball breaker for morale if used in "rest" areas....
It uses cl20 explosives which are 30% more powerful than hmx and 50% more powerful than rdx/c4.
That is insane.
7:23 That doesn't come off as focused and minimal collateral damage... It's a small warhead and it detonates that far away???
Depends if indeed if it was a successful strike. The detonation sensor may have triggered too early. I expect they intended to put it through the embrasure. The minimal collateral damage claim is obviously comparative with a larger munition within the context of Afghanistan. I think the payload probably isn't much more than a 40mm grenade.
@@TheArmourersBench Yeah, early detonation if my guess as well.
If I were the manufacturer of these Switchblades, I'd be asking myself some hard questions about how sub-$1500 commercial drones are replicating the effects of my munitions that undoubtedly cost ten times as much.
1,500$ FPV drone is not the same as a Loitering munition with a javelin like warhead.
As someone who’s flown both quads and fixed wing drones. Give me a quad for control and loitering and stable footage any day of the week. It appears to have automated targeting but, considering an off the shelf DJI for $1200 is 100x reusable, and has a far far superior video link, stabilizes camera, zoom and various off the shelf GPS feedback capabilities, RTH, waypoint etc…. this switch blade is useless, and I bet you they cost more then 10k each.
how is a DJI drone 100x reusable after its blown up?
imagine being able to hack these mid flight and target it’s launch point
A drone bomb. Very cool stuff.
I see they copied the control pad layout from the Nintendo Switch.
Interesting
Uff... nasty stuff
Americké ministerstvo obrany hodlá ročně investovat do programu Replicator 500 milionů dolarů (11,34 miliardy Kč), uvádí Reuters. Otázkou je, zda právě Switchblade 600 naplňuje představy o levných dronech, protože cena jednoho menšího Switchblade 300 je přes 1,1 milionu korun,
One can only dream ❕
Could just put knifes in the front, turn it into a kinetic kill
StuGna, not StuNga. It hurts me every time.
Gahhhh you're right, read my notes too quickly!
It's actually Stoogna
Looks a bit crap for 6 thousand dollars each, I bet the Iranian ones are much simpler and afraction of the cost. 3D printed on a desktop and all the bits brought off Alibarber for 20 bucks.
The 300s just seem too weak, only suitable against the softest of targets. Against a single infantryman, hopefully hitting him really damn well because, armour, helmets and light cover may well stop it.
I can see the theory of using them in huge masses due to a cheap price point, but even at a scale of a thousand at a time they just seem ineffective. And once you get into more, jamming becomes a serious issue.
The munician looks successful in the videos. The enemy is forced to retreat and seek cover. Granted, not as sexy as watching a tank blowup, but still a vital part of operations.
The 300 is intended to kill troops not vehicles or tanks. It’s original intended use was to engage targets that your other weapons couldnt reach with direct fire if you had no other support. For this it is well suited.
Ого! Американцы снабжают Россию новейшими технологиями! Бесплатно! Сами! Понятно, что все эти новинки будут просто отобраны россиянами у украинцев и тщательно изучены!
Soo its the US version of a suicide bomber
A flying VBIED
The 300 is basically an low yield aerial grenade, with not much tactical use.
Basically yeah.
Depends on the circumstances. When it comes down to threading a needle, its got more accuracy than most things.
so basically gamechangeblade is useless in this war. such complex system just to spook some russian or catch some idiots in the open isnt worth effort. with being useless, doing recon, spooking russians and catching idiots in the open any cheap diy drone made here would be sufficient enough. those money couldve being used for some other weapons that actually needed more... or just for some huge mass of commercial drones for army to use here.
I'd hate for this to fall into the wrong hands head would be rolling all over the place litterly
15 minutes is not a lot of time to work with. What happens if you need to abort? You lose the system?
40mm warhead is a joke
Russia just send very many T64 to Lugansk , maybe as many as 200 such tanks ! Ukraine need to kill them on a distance of 50 km !!! Swichblade 300 is only meant to hit infantry
This is scary and even more frightening is the prospect of adding AI to it so it can do most of the work itself.
It could be done on the operator side, for detecting the targets.
Not much need for AI here. Autopilot can already do 90% of the legwork bringing the drone from launch to target, potentially allowing one operator to pilot a dozen or so systems simultaneously, only needing to perform final target designation or corrective actions.
Reusability is the big next step for these kamikaze drones in my opinion. Dive-bomb and fly home. That way the swarm of drones becomes its own miniature airforce, making dozens of strikes per drone per day. Brings the cost per-strike down from thousands of dollars to the hundred dollars or so for a new warhead and a fresh battery.
It looks dangerous to launch? Remember anything with tits or wheels is going to give u provlems and if anything doesn't work exactly the way it is supposed to... it would be bad! Just saying! Hopefully the 600 is better
1st Gen Drone Swarm. How horrific lol
70k usd each for the switchblade 300
Rambo 4 hhhhhhhh
It's a flaming pile of dogshit.
It didn't do anything to "gamechange" the battle
Doesn’t this give the Russians and Chinese examples to capture and copy? Maybe should have saved it for WWIII?
I mena I doubt its anything that they couldn’t figure out on their own.
And the Russians can’t exactly replace their tank losses, let alone manufacture new modern drones.
Switchblade isn't really that complicated. I don't think they'll be able to learn much they don't already know.
Putin has great anti-aircraft protection. So does the Ukraine. So most of these switchblade drones have a life-expectancy of around 3-4 hours, if that, including practice. Snipers shoot them down. Likewise they get attacked by anti-drone drones
Source: trust me bro
I think you fundamentally misunderstood how this munition works.
Lol snipers shooting down drones. The switchblade can not hover and is constantly moving. Additionally AA systems are almost non existent for drones this size and are not readily available to the common soldier. There is essentially no counter to these in the Ukraine theater as of now.
@@hihfty Yea but they give distinct sound when attacking, from one of Chechen mercenary. BTW the Russian also deploy similar weapon, the KYB, they also use jammer to prevent drone attack.
@@yulusleonard985 True, although with many types of munitions if you can hear it than the round wasn’t for you. But you are correct that jamming systems do exist but as we have seen through out this war no one has been competent enough to deploy them effectively. It’s been free reign to how ever the attacker is. You would hope that if America was inserted in this scenario that drone attacks would be minimal and contested.
Can we please get back to weapons, not politics? And please stop with this "In Ukraine" pseudo-series on the conflict in ukraine. We have no way of telling through the fog of war if a particular weapon system works well "in ukraine." It may be years or decades before the extent of this conflict is found.
None of this is politics. None of it. This is a round up of evidence of use of a weapon system via open source intelligence sources. This is one day going to be history. I'm combining my day jobs of working in defence journalism and being a historian to look at things as they are on going. You can complain all you like but my work on this 'pseudo-series' as you call it is amongst the least politically bias you'll find on here. Thanks for watching.
@@TheArmourersBench I don't know where this guy is coming from. I didn't see anything "political" about your videos. You are doing very good in just reporting on the reports available. Don't get discouraged because of someone who doesn't know what he is talking about. The rest of us are thankful for your efforts.