American Switchblade Drones Caught on Camera Being Used in Ukraine

Social media is abuzz with a rare new footage showing Ukrainian forces using U.S.-made AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions to strike Russian targets.

In the video, a Ukrainian drone operator can be seen preparing to launch the UAV before the clip shows several shots from the vantage point of the loitering munition.

Ukraine has received many types of drones from the U.S., including Switchblade, Phoenix Ghost and CyberLux K8 drones.

Although this is "not quite" the first appearance of footage of Switchblades coming out of Ukraine, it is "far and away the most we have seen, showing multiple engagements from the launch sequence onwards," military and defense expert, David Hambling, was quoted as saying by Newsweek.

Footage shows the Switchblade 300 to be "effective against personnel and unarmored vehicles," Hambling aid.

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"It is not effective against armor, so while it was extremely suitable for the previous conflicts involving insurgents in pickup trucks, it is less suited for high-intensity conflict against an enemy with tanks, personnel carriers and self-propelled guns," Hambling added.

The two types of Switchblade drones, the 300 and the 600, are made by American defense contractor AeroVironment. The larger 600 model can travel for up to 40 minutes and has an anti-armor warhead meant for hardened targets that are further away, according to the manufacturer. It has a range of around 40 kilometers, or 25 miles.

The smaller 300 variant can fly for up to 15 minutes to a maximum range of around six miles.