Summary and Key Points: Switchblade drones, developed by AeroVironment, are revolutionizing modern warfare by offering precise, loitering strike capabilities. Widely used in Ukraine against Russian forces and in the U.S. military, these drones exemplify "distributed lethality," enhancing infantry power by targeting personnel and armored vehicles.

-The U.S. Army's recent $1 billion contract with AeroVironment to purchase these drones highlights the growing reliance on unmanned systems.

-As technology advances, such drones, alongside AI and quantum computing, will redefine warfare, making it increasingly automated and precise, with defense contractors like AeroVironment at the forefront of this evolution.

The Changing Face of War: Switchblade Drones Go Kamikaze

Drones are completely reshaping the face of modern warfare. Add in other tools such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and someday, quantum computing, and science fiction is becoming a very frightening reality in conflict. In Ukraine, the world is seeing how drones have already transformed war. 

Similarly, in the ongoing shadow war between Iran and Israel, drones are remaking the strategic and tactical situations. Recognizing the change, the U.S. Army is rightly getting involved in this action.

According to The War Zone, the Army has entered into a $1 billion contract with AeroVironment, a military drone maker, to purchase swarms of the company’s iconic Switchblade kamikaze drones. The deal spans the next five years and shows a clear commitment on the part of Big Green to continuously enhance the capabilities and protection of its infantry.

Switchblade drones have been around since 2010. They have been used effectively against ISIS targets. More recently, the Switchblade has been used with devastating success by Ukraine against the Russian military. 

These systems are designed to loiter over a battlefield until a target is identified. The drone then executes a dive over its target. Once in range, it detonates. Two of the most popular Switchblade drone models are the 300 and 600 series. The Switchblade 300 has a range of up to 18 miles and a 20-minute loiter time. This model is perfect for knocking out enemy personnel. The 600 model, on the other hand, has a 24-mile range and a 40-minute loiter time. These systems are equipped with an anti-tank warhead. Ukraine uses them to hit Russian armor.

Thus, the Switchblade revolutionizes ground warfare by conferring incredible tactical advantages onto the infantry of a given army when facing just about any ground threat, from enemy personnel to tanks and other armored vehicles. It is an extraordinary evolution.

The military refers to this growing capability as “distributed lethality.” Basically, the Army seeks to move combat power more evenly about the modern battlefield. The Army is reducing its reliance on larger, costlier, and more logistically intensive armored units. As the Ukraine War has shown, asymmetrical warfare is the sine qua non of modern combat, and these drones are the pinnacle of unconventional capabilities. 

Switchblade drones are phenomenal pieces of battlefield technology. They provide real-time video feeds. These feeds give the force utilizing the Switchblade precise targeting data. The weapons cut down on collateral damage, too. They are compact and can be launched from simple tubes, making them a highly effective and economical weapon on the modern battlefield.

The Next Generation’s Defense Contractors

For AeroVironment, the firm that builds the Switchblade, this contract represents a major financial boost. It further cements the firm’s position atop the ladder of rising defense contractors developing next-generation platforms that will completely disrupt the battlefield – and indeed already have. 

With a monumental infusion of U.S. defense dollars over the next five years, and with demand only increasing as the global threat environment worsens, dynamic firms like AeroVironment will be the biggest beneficiaries.

Innovation tends to occur in a non-linear pathway. 

No one even a decade ago could have imagined that drones would evolve into the game-changing weapons platforms they have become. As artificial intelligence and other new computing methods are applied to the battlefield, the way in which people will wage war in another decade will be totally unrecognizable to those of us who have spent a career studying these issues.

With $1 billion in their pockets and a secure contract for at least the next five years, AeroVironment will be able to further innovate from where they are now with their kamikaze drones. Newer, more lethal, stealthier models will inevitably be designed. In fact, entirely new concepts of automated warfare will likely be developed as we enter a bold and terrible new world at war. 

Author Experience and Expertise: Brandon J. Weichert

Brandon J. Weichert, a National Interest national security analyst, is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who is a contributor at The Washington Times, the Asia Times, and The-Pipeline. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His next book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine, is due October 22 from Encounter Books. Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.

All images are Creative Commons or Shutterstock. 

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