Question and answer.. What are the modern American drones? Has the balance of war changed in Ukraine?

Washington

- Washington will provide the latest in its military arsenal - unmanned aerial vehicles "Drones" that differ from other well-known drones inside and outside the United States - to Ukrainian forces to help them confront Russian forces.

The "Switchblade" planes - to be presented to Ukraine - are modern-generation planes, and are very different from the marches that Americans are accustomed to, such as the "Predator" and "Reaper", which represented the elite of traditional drones carrying missiles It carries out offensive missions on physical or human targets, in addition to reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering missions.

The importance of drones in wars around the world has increased during the past years, and they have played decisive roles in resolving some conflicts, such as the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Former Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.

Military experts say that global spending on drones has witnessed a huge increase over the past few years, as the armies have invested about $98 billion in these technologies.

Al Jazeera Net reviews - through a question and answer - the importance and nature of this march, and how it can change the course of the battles inside Ukraine.

• Why Washington provides drones to Ukraine?

After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed a joint virtual session of the US House of Representatives last Wednesday, President Joe Biden confirmed that the United States would send "Drones" to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion.

"The American people are heeding President Zelensky's call to give Ukraine more aid and more weapons to defend itself," Biden said. "Our assistance will also include drones, demonstrating our commitment to sending our most advanced weapons."

Biden's words were consistent with his earlier pledges that Washington would do everything in its power to defeat Russian forces in Ukraine.

• What types of this plane does Washington intend to send to Kiev?

The United States will send 100 aircraft, including two models, the light "SwitchBlade 300" and the medium "SwitchBlade 600", while the company "AeroVironment", in agreement with the Department of Defense (Pentagon), has not released images of the third and larger model yet.

The smaller model is designed to hit precise or human targets, while the medium models deal with armored vehicles, tanks or ships.

It is not yet known what models will be sent to Ukraine.

The smaller model weighs approximately 2.7 kilograms, is 60 centimeters long, and can fly for 15 minutes.

While the average weighs about 22 kilograms, it can fly for 40 minutes within a range of 25 miles.

These aircraft have a speed of 65 miles per hour, are equipped with cameras and advanced guidance systems and are used once, which means that they explode after hitting their target and cannot be recovered after launch.

• Did Russia and Ukraine use the Drones in their ongoing war?

Russia and Ukraine have used armed drones in the ongoing fighting, and Ukrainian forces already have a fleet of Turkish-made Bayraktar drones that drop precision-guided weapons.

The Ukrainians carried out unexpectedly successful attacks during the first days after the war began, but after the Russians managed to extend the range of their air defenses into Ukraine, these planes did not play the same important role they played early on, said Jack Watling, a military expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London. .

• Who produces these planes?

  And what is its price?

These planes are produced for the Pentagon by the "AirVironment" company, and the company's market value rose by more than 150 million dollars immediately after announcing the delivery of 100 planes to Ukraine produced by the company, which is based in Virginia, neighboring the capital, Washington.

The price of the smaller model starts at $6,000 per plane, and this is a limited cost, especially when compared to the $150,000 cost of the Hellfire missile carried by conventional drones.

• What are the characteristics of these combat marches?

These drones do not launch missiles but are missiles themselves, but unlike typical missiles, this drone can circle over the target, wait for the perfect moment, and strike with pinpoint accuracy.

These aircraft have the advantage of combining the superior capabilities of conventional unmanned aircraft systems, with additional capabilities of the variable missile system through the S2S program where the spatial GPS coordinates (GBS) of the target are transmitted instantly from the aircraft to the human operator. .

It can be programmed to hit targets without human intervention (robot + artificial intelligence), which reduces the time for decision-making and hitting the target.

• Why is it called kamikaze?

The Japanese word "kamikaze" is associated with a special Japanese attack unit during World War II in which military pilots would destroy their fighter planes by blowing them up at a target that was often warships.

The Switchblade missions are suicidal in nature, as they are a robotic bomb in essence and do not carry missiles from which they are fired, as it is actually a missile or an explosive bomb that detonates at the specified target until the time is right to carry out the strike.

It can be considered a mixture of cruise missiles guided and unmanned aircraft at the same time.

• What is the significance of these planes in the Ukraine war?

These planes provide air support for small ground forces units in the event that they lack a conventional air fleet, as is the case currently in Ukraine, where many of its airports have been destroyed, and most of its planes have been damaged and disabled, according to Russian official data.

• Can Russian radars detect and shoot them down?

Switchblade defenses include advanced electronic jamming software and various methods of impeding their detection and shooting down, and there are techniques and tactics to bypass every possible defense.

• And how does the "Switchblade" benefit the Ukrainian side?

This aircraft will be an important addition to support the firepower of the Ukrainian army, and will allow it to have some supremacy in the air battlefield, as it is difficult to see, especially at night, and the Russians cannot hear its sound, and they do not know when it will come, in addition to the ability to target small vital targets.

And because these planes do not contain guided missiles looking for a heat source, they will expand attacks on Russian armored vehicles, tanks and other ground targets, and the ability to fly for more than 40 minutes, gives "Switchblade" a lot of freedom to search for Russian targets of military value. High.