htmlOn March 16, the United States announced the provision of 100 sets of "switchblade" cruise missile systems to Ukraine. It is reported that each system includes 10 cruise missiles, including three different cruise missiles: "Switchblade 300", "Switchblade 600" and "Black Wing". The "Switchblade 300" is small and is used for anti-personnel. It weighs only 2.5 kg, with a range of 10 kilometers and a range of 15 minutes; the "Black Wing" is the unarmed "Switchblade 300" and is only used for reconnaissance; the "Switchblade 600" is large and has a range of 40 kilometers and a range of 40 minutes.
"Switchblade 300" is very small
"Switchblade 600" is much the bigger one
"Switchblade 300" has been used since 2011 and has been widely used by the US special forces in the Afghan war. In the White House rhetoric, this is a "tactical unmanned flight system", which can easily be misled on the drone, but this is a cruise missile, which is different from a drone.
cruise missile fingers have a certain range and maneuverability ability. UAVs with self-destructive warheads are generally used at one time, but some are allowed to be used repeatedly for up to 20 times. At this time, it is difficult to distinguish from drones with self-destructive warheads. For comparison, the design basis of the drone is used multiple times, or even "unlimited" times.
compared with missile , cruise missiles are generally powered by battery power, and the propeller propeller is much lower in speed. The cruising speed of the "Switchblade 300" is 101 km/h and the sprinting speed is 160 km/h; the slightly faster "Switchblade 600" has a cruising speed of 113 km/h and the sprinting speed reaches 185 km/h. The low-speed linear-conducting anti-tank missile also reaches a high subsonic speed, almost 1,000 km/h, and the laser-guided "Hellfire" reaches M1.3 (about 1,600 km/h).
The larger speed is very useful for shortening flight time. At a distance of 3,000 meters, line-conducting anti-tank missiles (such as the American "Tao" type and China's Red Arrow 73) require about 10 seconds of flight time. If the enemy's tank is strengthened to observe or communicate with each other, they have time to launch smoke bombs in the maneuver to destroy the missile's aim, and can also shoot intensively in the direction of the shooter at the same time, forcing the aimer to conceal and destroy the aiming. On the first day of the October War, Israeli tanks were destroyed by the Egyptian army's "Sagher" anti-tank missile (which was copied and improved by the Red Arrow 73). But the Israeli tank hands quickly figured out the rules. Once they observed smoke and dust fired by the Egyptian missiles, they immediately accelerated their maneuvers and fired smoke screens. At the same time, the machine guns and artillery of all tanks in the team fired violently in the direction of the shooter, destroying the aiming, which was very effective. During the crossing of the river more than ten days later, the Egyptian army's "Sagher" firepower became even more fierce, but the results of the battle were drastically reduced.
Obviously, the speed is faster, the tank's reaction window shrinks, and the hit rate increases. In the 1990s, the United States studied ultra-high-speed anti-tank missiles with a speed of up to M5, which was comparable to tank shells and was directly damaged with kinetic energy, but the flight control problem of precise guidance could not be solved, so it finally gave up. This is not surprising. The M5 is already hypersonic, and the United States has not solved the precise guidance problem of hypersonics so far.
"Switchblade 300" has only 2.5 kilograms in total. Remove the battery, motor, and bullet body. The power of the warhead is equivalent to 40mm grenade , with a killing radius of about 5 meters, which is equivalent to grenade . It is very effective for anti-personnel vehicles. Anti-light vehicles are already barely forced, and anti-tanks are definitely not possible. The anti-tank capability is the "Switchblade 600", which is much more weight, has a much more powerful warhead, and is much more bulky in carrying and launching. The "switchblade 300" is less than half a meter long, and the launch cylinder is not much larger. The "switchblade 600" is 1.3 meters long. The launch cylinder is about the same size as the 82mm mortar , and it is no longer a small one.
In actual combat, "Switchblade 300" is an effective replacement for sniper rifle . The full weight of 2.5 kg is very friendly to hiking infantry.The movement and stillness during launch are small, and the flight is almost silent. You can also fly toward the target to avoid attracting attention, or enter the attack with tricky paths and angles, which is something that sniper rifles cannot do. The cruise missile has a low speed and is also advantageous that it is easy to control when "people are in the loop". Of course, all "switchblades" can also set GPS coordinates and path planning, and fly fully autonomously.
"Switchblade 300" takes 6 minutes to fly to the far end of 10 kilometers at a cruise speed. There is still 9 minutes of range left at that time. 10 kilometers is the limit of remote control, not the limit of flight distance. This means that there is time to observe the battlefield and confirm the target, which is very necessary. From discovering the target to launching to flying to reach the target, your hands and feet are faster than 10 minutes. The target may have moved or been hidden again. Only by observing close to each other can you recapture and confirm. The entire live broadcast can even confirm damage during the final attack.
"Switchblade 300" is a one-time use, but even if the recycling problem is solved, it is used as a reconnaissance drone, and the battery life is no more than 3 minutes at the far end of 10 kilometers, which is very limited. If the distance is reduced to 5 kilometers, the battery life will be restored to 9 minutes, which will be even more useful. However, the forward distance is too short, and it is still useful as a reconnaissance method for hiking infantry. It is not enough for mechanized infantry and has almost entered the range of the opponent's anti-tank missiles.
"Springblade 600" is fired with a mortar-like launcher. The shooter uses a special device to keep observation to avoid sunlight interference
The warhead comes with is enough to destroy tanks
Video feedback can be used for remote control of "people in the loop", or just live broadcast
"Switchblade 600" range and endurance time are more useful. When sailing according to the cruise speed, there is still 19 minutes of end of the 40-kilometer range, which is very useful, but back and forth is not enough, so it is impossible to reuse. But this is not so much a replacement for sniper rifles, but rather an alternative to anti-tank missiles. Even in terms of system size and weight, it is no less than a "javelin". The big guy on the hiking infantry carries a long distance walk, plus self-defense weapons, ammunition, and basic supplies, which is a great burden. The warhead of
"Switchblade 600" is also large enough to have anti-tank capabilities. Compared with anti-tank missiles, this is suitable for attacking enemy tank targets or sneak attacking enemy tanks in marching or parked, but is not more useful for tank groups that impact in open areas than anti-tank missiles.
"Black Wing" and "Switchblade 300" are basically the same, but there is no warhead, but it is also a one-time use.
But no matter which "switchblade" it is, the value of reconnaissance is actually limited. Real battlefield reconnaissance requires longer battery life, so it goes without saying that battlefield surveillance is. The "switchblade" is only effective when the target is discovered and the target is generally confirmed, and one is fired in a target, and eliminated in the final confirmation. It’s impossible to consume if you really use this thing to reconnaissance the battlefield. The "Switchblade 300" costs 70,000 US dollars per piece, and the "Switchblade 600" is estimated to be more than doubled, and it cannot be used without restraint. The weight of the latter also limits the consumption use.
In the first phase of the Ukrainian War, after the Russian army raided for a long distance, they were forced to move into towns to fight. Due to the low command and communication capabilities, the commander could only command with the front, and many senior officers died. In such a setting, the "switchblade 300" is very useful. In urban combat, tanks and armored vehicles also move slowly, rushing and stopping, and have a small maneuvering range, but often behind hidden objects, the "Switchblade 600" is also very useful.
Now the Russian army has moved into the second phase of combat, mainly in Donbas' field battle. Ukraine expects the World War II-level tank war to begin, which also means a contest between clustered tanks, heavy artillery firepower and even military power on the Great Plains. Under such a setting, the "switchblade" is a little out of force.
However, cruise missiles are still a new technology worthy of attention. This is another breakthrough development of infantry technology after individual missiles. If individual missiles are like intelligent direct-fired weapons, cruise missiles are like intelligent inter-fired weapons, which are more convenient for infantry to perform maneuverable, flexible, tricky and fatal blows.
China is a superpower of drones, and there is no reason why it is also a superpower of cruise missiles.
Gaod Infrared S570
Gaod Infrared S570 is very similar to the Hero 30 in Israel. Both adopt a folding wing configuration, the bullet weighs 3 kg, the total weight of the system is 7 kg, and it is equipped with a 0.5 kg warhead, a killing radius of 8 meters, a cruise time of 25 minutes, and a maximum range of 40 kilometers.
Rainbow 901
Aerospace Science and Technology's Rainbow 901 is very similar to the "Switchblade 300", but it is heavier, reaching 9 kg, with a control radius of 15 kilometers, but the battery life is as high as 2 hours. The optoelectronic system provides an observation radius of 2 kilometers and can be reused 20 times. However, the cruise speed is only 70 km/h, and the sprint speed can reach 150 km/h. Relatively speaking, it is more suitable for dealing with static and low-speed moving targets.
Similar to Feihong 901, which has been sold to 10 countries,
Zhongtian ZT-25 can be deployed from the drone, the display model has been simplified, and the wing folding method is not displayed. It is estimated that the side slotting pop-up method of
Similar to Feihong 901, which has been sold to 10 countries. The Zhongtian ZT-25 can be dropped from a drone. The total weight of the projectile and the launch cylinder is 5 kilograms. It can be used below 15,000 meters. The maximum air-firing control distance is 20 kilometers, the strike accuracy is less than 0.5 meters, the cruise speed is 110 kilometers per hour, and the sprint speed is 185 kilometers per hour. The battery life time is 30 minutes when shooting in land, and it should be significantly increased during air shooting.
Rainbow 817 is only the size of a water cup. This is the female chief teacher personally explained at the Zhuhai Air Show
The more unique one is Rainbow 817. This is not a cruise missile in the traditional sense, but it can be used as a cruise missile. It weighs only 0.85 kg and has a load of 0.2-0.3 kg, which is equivalent to the power of a grenade. It has a battery life of 15 minutes and can be deployed from a drone. The actual combat distance is limited only by the control distance, which is very useful.
Rainbow 817 after all, it is too light and small, and the battery life and flight distance cannot be very high. When used by individual soldiers, it is only useful in close combat. But when used in conjunction with multi-rotor drones, the sky will be wide. In fact, such a drone-cruise missile system solves the major problem of drone armament. It is already conventional to mount conventional anti-tank missiles or micro missiles under larger fixed-wing drones, but it is more convenient to use multi-rotors in the synthetic battalion drones. They can take off and land anywhere, and can be low in speed and hover and fly sideways at any time, which is also convenient for flexible operation. But the armed deployment of multi-rotor drones is more troublesome. There are recoil problems when mounting conventional guns and guns, and without recoil cannons and or rockets also have precise aiming problems. After being equipped with "smart flight grenades" like Rainbow 817, it can be roughly placed near the target, which is much simpler. After delivery, it will hit accurately under remote control or autonomous guidance, with moderate power and will not cause excessive damage. This is a very effective and precise method of killing for buildings, simple fortifications, and hidden locations.
cruise missile was not invented by China, but like many things, after being made into Chinese cabbage, they play tricks that their biological mothers don’t recognize. "Switchblade" cannot change Ukraine's war, but cruise missiles will bloom in China.
