ping...
The Switchblade is assembled in Simi Valley by AeroVironment Inc., the Pentagon’s top supplier of small drones, which include the Raven, Wasp and Puma. More than 50 Switchblades will be sent to the war zone in Afghanistan this summer under a $10.1-million contract, which also includes the cost of repairs, spare parts, training and other expenses. Officials would not provide details about where the weapons would be used, how many were ordered and precisely when they would be deployed.
AeroVironment, based in Monrovia, developed the weapon on its own, thinking the military could use a lethal drone that could be made cheaply and deployed quickly by soldiers in the field, said company spokesman Steven Gitlin.
Switchblade already tested in combat by spec ops:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/11/business/la-fi-kamikaze-drone-20120611
“It’s not inexpensive to task an Apache helicopter or F-16 fighter jet from a base to take out an [improvised explosive device] team when you consider fuel, people, logistics support, etc.,” he said.
About a dozen Switchblades were tested last year by special operations units in Afghanistan, according to Army officials, who said the drone proved effective.
There’s always the problem of letting our enemies get hold of one of these and saving themselves the cost of engineering one. The point has been made that the Predator drone (if that’s what it was) is too expensive to crash into light Infantry. The point was also made that it was more useful serving as a guide for the Americans to avoid ambushes on their way to the Benghazi airport. This brings to the fore the old “How much is a life worth?” argument. I would crash the drone to save lives, but that’s a call decided by one’s own conscience. As for the drone being more useful to guiding the Americans out, I was taught “Danger Close!” You deal with what can kill you right away and then the next closest threat and so on. I’m pretty sure those two dead former SEALs would have filled out an allotment for $25 a month for life to pay for a drone to crash into that mortar site so they could still be alive for their families.
Several episodes of the old TV program, “Man From Uncle” used dynamite strapped to remote controlled model airplanes as weapons.
Utterly lacking a Commander in Chief they sure needed something.
Can they be programmed to shout something before exploding?
Well, that’s cool!
Wonder what type of warhead it is using and weight of explosives?
Which is why Obama would never allow them to be issued to troops.
It would allow troops in the field to have firepower that could be used to take out enemies, and the JAGs and brass back in HQ would have no power to override or enforce insane Rules of Engagement upon.
Goofy little thing. Has a warhead slightly larger than a 40mm grenade. Might be annoying but not a real piece of combat power. Israeli Spike missile (fiber optic guided, 6,000m range, 10 pound warhead) or the old Merlin 81mm guided mortar round would be better choices, to just name two.
If somebody can kluge this up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNPJMk2fgJU
Seriously, why did they not have a few claymores and an M-60?