Pentagon Ordered Switchblade 600 Kamikaze Drones for Ukraine

The United States finalized a contract for Switchblade 600 tactical strike unmanned systems developed by the American company AeroVironment, known as kamikaze drones, for Ukraine.

On September 20, the Pentagon released a document listing the types of weapons that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will soon receive from the Americans, reports Militarny.

It includes the Switchblade 600 kamikaze drones, which the official Kyiv had asked to hand over earlier. According to the published document, the contract was concluded on September 15.

"The equipment is Switchblade 600, the amount is $2.2 million, the contractor is AeroVironment," the document says.

It became known in August that the Pentagon was preparing a contract for handing over Switchblade 600 drones to Ukraine.

The US had previously transferred loitering munitions (kamikaze drones) to Ukraine - those capable of staying in the air for a certain time before hitting the target. These included the smaller Switchblade 300 drones and the Phoenix Ghost drones.

"Switchblade 600 has a powerful warhead similar to the American-made Javelin anti-tank missile, which allows destroying heavily armored vehicles, including tanks. This loitering munition with a weight of 23 kg is capable of destroying targets with the attack from the top. The flight duration is 40 minutes, during which the drone can travel 40 km and barrage in the air. The maximum flight speed is 185 km/h," as Militarny writes.