Photo: AeroVironment
Having seen what devastating effects the clever use of drones can have on enemy plans over in Ukraine, the U.S. military is now convinced this is the way to go should things go south and require American interference abroad, or some defense at home. So in the summer of last year the Department of Defense announced something called the Replicator initiative.
In a nutshell, we're talking about a short-term plan (18 to 24 months) of fielding "thousands of autonomous systems across multiple domains" in a bid to "counter peer adversaries' rapid military buildup."
In simpler words that's an effort meant to deploy as many simple-to-use, cheap-to-make weapons systems as possible, tools that could be used effectively on the battlefield while keeping American troops safe and far from harm's way.
Not much has happened in the Replicator program since it was announced, but this week word surfaced about the first weapon system to be included in the effort. And that system is something called the Switchblade 600 loitering munition.
The weapon is made by defense contractor AeroVironment, and we've featured it here on autoevolution before. Capable of staying airborne until the perfect moment to strike arrives, it has been in production since 2012, being the largest in the Switchblade family (the other version is the 300).
The thing is man-portable, making it small enough to transport with ease. It launches by means of a tube, and can set out to track and engage targets thanks to the gimbaled suite of sensors and flight control system it is equipped with.
The killer drone can stay in the air for up to 40 minutes at a time - by comparison, the 300 version is a lot less capable, as it can only fly for 15 minutes. It can travel and strike located well beyond the line of sight, at up to 56 miles (90 km) in a certain configuration.
The Switchblade 600 can carry anti-personnel weapons, but more important than that is its ability to strike tanks and other protected vehicles with an anti-armor warhead.
The loitering part of its nature makes it capable of waving off if the conditions for a strike are not met, for it only to re-engage depending on needs.
Seen as a force-multiplying system, the Switchblade will soon take its place in the military's Replicator plans, but we're not told exactly how many of them will be fielded.
Its smaller sibling, the Switchblade 300, was announced back in April as one of the pillars of the U.S. Marine Corps Organic Precision Fires-Light (OPF-L) program. The military branch initially awarded AeroVironment a $8.9 million contract to deploy the drones, but that can easily grow to as much as $249 million if the need to use and deploy more arises.
In simpler words that's an effort meant to deploy as many simple-to-use, cheap-to-make weapons systems as possible, tools that could be used effectively on the battlefield while keeping American troops safe and far from harm's way.
Not much has happened in the Replicator program since it was announced, but this week word surfaced about the first weapon system to be included in the effort. And that system is something called the Switchblade 600 loitering munition.
The weapon is made by defense contractor AeroVironment, and we've featured it here on autoevolution before. Capable of staying airborne until the perfect moment to strike arrives, it has been in production since 2012, being the largest in the Switchblade family (the other version is the 300).
The thing is man-portable, making it small enough to transport with ease. It launches by means of a tube, and can set out to track and engage targets thanks to the gimbaled suite of sensors and flight control system it is equipped with.
The killer drone can stay in the air for up to 40 minutes at a time - by comparison, the 300 version is a lot less capable, as it can only fly for 15 minutes. It can travel and strike located well beyond the line of sight, at up to 56 miles (90 km) in a certain configuration.
The Switchblade 600 can carry anti-personnel weapons, but more important than that is its ability to strike tanks and other protected vehicles with an anti-armor warhead.
The loitering part of its nature makes it capable of waving off if the conditions for a strike are not met, for it only to re-engage depending on needs.
Seen as a force-multiplying system, the Switchblade will soon take its place in the military's Replicator plans, but we're not told exactly how many of them will be fielded.
Its smaller sibling, the Switchblade 300, was announced back in April as one of the pillars of the U.S. Marine Corps Organic Precision Fires-Light (OPF-L) program. The military branch initially awarded AeroVironment a $8.9 million contract to deploy the drones, but that can easily grow to as much as $249 million if the need to use and deploy more arises.
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