Loitering ammunition is low cost, selling for approx $13,000 (excluding headers) is similar in all respects to US drones switch knife. Chinese company specializing in drones ShenZhen SkyWing UAV Technology has released promotional material on the web to present its latest creation. It is a yet-to-be-named system designed to perform reconnaissance and strike missions, and offers key features including a folding-wing fuselage, automatic and manual flight controls, GPS/GNSS navigation and multiplatform coordination. Here’s everything we know about this drone.
Low cost Chinese kamikaze drones
According to company specifications reported by Defense BlogChinese kamikaze drones have a maximum take-off weight of 6 kilograms and a cruising speed of between 135 and 150 kilometers per hour. This aircraft supports payload capacity 1.5 kilogramsi, the flight range is more than 30 kilometers and the operational altitude is between 100 and 3,000 metersThat. The manufacturer has declared more autonomy than that 30 minutes and communication range up to 20 kilometers. The drone is also designed to be launched from a compact cylindrical tube, using gas or gunpowder propulsion.
“The wings are folded and placed in the launch cylinder, then lifted off with a high-pressure gas launch; throwing gunpowder“, the company said, adding that”multiple loitering munitions can be launched at the same time, and multiple loitering munitions can perform the same flight task or different flight tasks“. As for the control system, the drone supports remote manual operation and pre-programmed flight routes via GPS, GLONASS, Beidou or Galileo navigation.
A cheap US Switchblade?
“In the manual control modeloitering munitions fly in response to remote control instructions from operators on the ground“, we read in the documentation. In automatic mode“Stray ammunition will fly according to the programmed route and the flight will end at the last coordinate point“. Additional features include optional photoelectric guidance and two landing modes: parachute and rocket landing. The fuselage can be folded to a length of less than 910 mm and a cross-section of no more than 118×118 mm.
The similarity of this system to the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 and 600 supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces suggests an attempt to replicate the design philosophy at a lower cost. The company promotes the system as a modular solution consists of four main subsystems: air platform, mission payload, combat package, and ground control unit. However, the listed $13,000 base price does not include combat payload and ground control units.
The introduction of low-cost replica US Switchblade loitering munitions from China highlights increasing global access to now expendable drone warfare technology.
Not only that: with these new low-cost munitions, China is demonstrating not only its ability to imitate Western military technology, but also its desire to make drone warfare increasingly accessible, economical and potentially destabilizing in the global balance.
