If he was referring to Switchblades, then he is wrong about them being a huge disappointment. They've absolutely proven their worth in Ukraine. It was one of the first one way fov drones used and now they're absolutely everywhere in Ukraine.

And the Pentagon just announced they were buying up a whole lot more just a couple days ago. As well as pouring money into naval surface drones and counter drone stuff. All this is being done through the Replicator program.
Breaking Defense

quote:
“The first tranche of Replicator capabilities include uncrewed surface vehicles (USV), uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and counter-uncrewed aerial systems (c-UAS) of various sizes and payloads from several traditional and non-traditional vendors,” the department wrote in a press release.

quote:
the Army’s Switchblade-600 loitering munition bid was greenlit for this first batch after it “already demonstrated … [its] utility in Ukraine, and this system will provide additional capability to US forces,” the Pentagon added.

quote:
the department secured approximately $500 million in fiscal 2024 funding, and requested an equal amount in funding for FY25.

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Posted by Auburn1968

NYC

Member since Mar 2019

19976 posts

Posted on 5/9/24 at 12:06 am to IAmNERD

quote:
If he was referring to Switchblades, then he is wrong about them being a huge disappointment.

The Switchblades' big problem is not their design or effectiveness, it is their cost. At $60k for an anti personnel version and more for the anti-armor version, that is the problem.

Ukraine is effectively using $500 to a few thousand dollar drones to do the same thing. Strap an RPG 7 head onto a $500 drone and it kills a main battle tank after flying into it from behind where the turret meets the body.

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