2022-04-11, 06:50 PM
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Ukraine Gets A Deadly Hunter-Killer Drone Team: U.S. Switchblades And Pumas Join The War (Updated)
The Pentagon has approved another batch of arms for Ukraine, including Switchblade loitering munitions and a variety of other equipment including night vision gear, Humvees and small-caliber ammunition. One of the most interesting additions is a small tactical drone, the Puma. These can work together with the loitering munitions as hunter-killer teams, a technique recently demonstrated by the makers but never before used in combat.
The U.S. Army use the drone under the name RQ-20 Puma; made by AeroVironment of California, it’s a hand-launched drone with a 15-foot wingspan. It is one of the heftier hand-launched craft, weighing over 20 pounds, and is correspondingly capable, with a flight endurance of more than five hours and a control range of more than 25 miles.
The Puma boasts a Mantis i45 sensor, like a miniature version of the sensor ball in Reaper-class drones, a gimballed sensor that swivels as the drone flies and provides a stabilized view of any point on the ground below. It has a low-light camera and an advanced thermal imager, both with a powerful zoom capability. This makes it useful for night operations, where Ukrainian tactical drones have been highly successful due to the Russian lack of effective night vision gear.
But why send yet more drones to Ukraine when they have plenty? One listing indicates Ukraine’s military already operates more than 30 types of drone, most of them manufactured locally. The answer may lie in Puma’s stable mate, the Switchblade.
The Switchblade 300 loitering munition is another AeroVironment product, a truly tiny drone no bigger than a baguette that weighs less five pounds and has a small explosive warhead. This type of portable lethal drone has been highly successful in Afghanistan and elsewhere for finding and finishing high-value targets at ranges of up to six kilometers. But once fired, it cannot be recalled, so if the operator fails to find a target it is a Switchblade wasted. Only very limited numbers are being supplied to Ukraine – 100 in the first batch, and likely a similar number in the second batch.
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Ukraine Gets A Deadly Hunter-Killer Drone Team: U.S. Switchblades And Pumas Join The War (Updated)
The Pentagon has approved another batch of arms for Ukraine, including Switchblade loitering munitions and a variety of other equipment including night vision gear, Humvees and small-caliber ammunition. One of the most interesting additions is a small tactical drone, the Puma. These can work together with the loitering munitions as hunter-killer teams, a technique recently demonstrated by the makers but never before used in combat.
The U.S. Army use the drone under the name RQ-20 Puma; made by AeroVironment of California, it’s a hand-launched drone with a 15-foot wingspan. It is one of the heftier hand-launched craft, weighing over 20 pounds, and is correspondingly capable, with a flight endurance of more than five hours and a control range of more than 25 miles.
The Puma boasts a Mantis i45 sensor, like a miniature version of the sensor ball in Reaper-class drones, a gimballed sensor that swivels as the drone flies and provides a stabilized view of any point on the ground below. It has a low-light camera and an advanced thermal imager, both with a powerful zoom capability. This makes it useful for night operations, where Ukrainian tactical drones have been highly successful due to the Russian lack of effective night vision gear.
But why send yet more drones to Ukraine when they have plenty? One listing indicates Ukraine’s military already operates more than 30 types of drone, most of them manufactured locally. The answer may lie in Puma’s stable mate, the Switchblade.
The Switchblade 300 loitering munition is another AeroVironment product, a truly tiny drone no bigger than a baguette that weighs less five pounds and has a small explosive warhead. This type of portable lethal drone has been highly successful in Afghanistan and elsewhere for finding and finishing high-value targets at ranges of up to six kilometers. But once fired, it cannot be recalled, so if the operator fails to find a target it is a Switchblade wasted. Only very limited numbers are being supplied to Ukraine – 100 in the first batch, and likely a similar number in the second batch.
đọc tiếp -> ở đây