US soldiers to carry miniature drones to launch from backpacks

[Ray]

US soldiers to carry miniature drones to launch from backpacks

US SOLDIERS going into battle will soon have miniature drones in their backpacks that can spot a hidden enemy and dive-bomb the target.

Switchblade, the latest in high-tech battlefield wizardry, is expected to be deployed on its first operational mission to southern and eastern Afghanistan. It is already being tested "in theatre" by the US Army, officials confirmed.

The Switchblade, weighing less than 6lb and with each costing $10,000, is the ultimate in controlled, precision killing, offering a new alternative in Afghanistan.

"It's like a flying shotgun...quite scary," Daniel Wasserbly, the senior Americas reporter on Jane's Defence Weekly, said of the Switchblade, which can stay in the air for up to 40 minutes.

In the Pacific War in 1944 the Japanese Air Force resorted to manned kamikaze ("divine wind") attacks on US warships, and for years the US has turned to unmanned systems to inflict damage - notably the Predator and Reaper drones armed with Hellfire missiles and precision-guided bombs.........

The mini-drone, packed with explosives in a small warhead, is launched from a 60cm tube. As it heads upwards, small wings unfold. The soldier can guide it to its target via a nose-mounted camera on the Switchblade.

The soldier looks through the long end of a shoebox-shaped viewer that displays video from the drone. Switchblade can also fly using the satellite-linked Global Positioning System (GPS).

The US company describes it as "a magic bullet". Powered by an electric motor, the "flying shotgun" can reach 80km/h but before it reaches the target - an individual fighter or vehicle which is not heavily armoured - the engine can be switched off so that it glides in silence on the final stage of the journey.

The Switchblade is part of a Pentagon programme called "lethal miniature armed munitions systems", to provide weapons that can avoid collateral damage, the phrase used to describe the involvement of innocent civilians........

The Switchblade is part of a Pentagon programme called "lethal miniature armed munitions systems", to provide weapons that can avoid collateral damage, the phrase used to describe the involvement of innocent civilians........

.......Switchblade could be recalled or redirected after it had been launched if there was concern about civilians in the area. It cannot be re-used, however, and once recalled, must be crashed elsewhere.

The key development is that it is portable. A spokesman for the Californian company said: "Infantrymen can take it out of a backpack, put it into the tube and use it as a weapon immediately."

Experts said the Switchblade would come in different sizes, depending on the US Army's mission requirements.

US soldiers to carry miniature drones to launch from backpacks | The Australian

Opens up a new dimension in infantry oriented combat.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

http://defenceforumindia.com/global-defence/26277-us-army-fly-kamikaze-drones.html

 

[W.G.Ewald]

The key development is that it is portable. A spokesman for the Californian company said: "Infantrymen can take it out of a backpack, put it into the tube and use it as a weapon immediately."

Easy for him to say. That's some bulky shit there, and how much does it weigh?

Spokesmen for military contractors are salesmen like any other. If there has been testing in the field, let's hear what the soldiers say.

 

[Ray]

Claims that it weighs less than 6 lbs.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Claims that it weighs less than 6 lbs.

Oh, well, I'll take a dozen.

 

[sandeepdg]

We could seriously use something like this in our anti terror efforts for our troopers when in hostile terrain like NE and Kashmir.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

We could seriously use something like this in our anti terror efforts for our troopers when in hostile terrain like NE and Kashmir.

AeroVironment would like to sell them to you, no doubt.

Although, the whole concept makes me think of Wile. E. Coyote opening a big box from Acme Munitions Inc. and looking out of the corner of his eye for the Roadrunner...

 

[sandeepdg]

^^ Yeah, it does, man !

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Pentagon to soon deploy pint-sized but lethal Switchblade drones - latimes.com

 

[pack leader]

lol such complex expensive solutions typical America

mini spike is cheaper lighter carry's more reloads ( 6 shots for 2 men crew )
does the same job (fire point destruction )

 

[W.G.Ewald]

lol such complex expensive solutions typical America

mini spike is cheaper lighter carry's more reloads ( 6 shots for 2 men crew )
does the same job (fire point destruction )

To add some information to your lol:

Rafael Unveils Mini-Spike Anti-Personnel Guided Weapon

...the mini-Spike missile system, [is] the smallest member of Rafael's electro-optically guided missiles. Mini-Spike is the first implementation of an anti-personnel precision attack, wireless guided missile, designed for operation at the company and platoon level.

This man-portable missile system weighs about 12 kg, and comprises of a command and launch unit facilitating target acquisition and wireless control for the missile, weighing 4 kg and missiles stored in a canister-launcher, weighing 4 kg each. Typically a soldier will carry the CLU and two missiles with other members of the unit carrying spare missiles.

The imaging sensor is located in the transparent bubble in the forward section (the ind tunnel model above does not show the transparent cap), ahead of the electronics section, guidance systems and servos, warhead and rocket motor all packed into the small missile tube.

 

[Singh]

Brilliant idea, these drones can be valuable in gathering information.

 

[pack leader]

To add some information to your lol:

Rafael Unveils Mini-Spike Anti-Personnel Guided Weapon

do not be offended my American friend
but American companies solve problems by throwing money at them
you lack the creativity and fiance off Russian or Israeli company's

for example this micro uav / smart grenade is far too expensive to acquire for any non us sf infantry team
the mini spike shares launcher and optics with regular spike
and is 4000$ a shot it too has tracking ability and an aboard ccd /ir camera
and it is used with great successes in Gaza by regular at platoons as part off regular infantry battalions in Israel

 

[rock127]

Oh, well, I'll take a dozen.

Rate thoda theek laga lo to 20 ka order kar doonga

 

[Yusuf]

If it's going to dive bomb in every mission, it's going I prove very expensive @10,000 per piece. Good for recon if a soldier is in a tight spot and needs to know where is enemy is and what's the ammo he is carrying.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

do not be offended my American friend
but American companies solve problems by throwing money at them
you lack the creativity and fiance off Russian or Israeli company's

Oh, I understand what you say. The motto of the US Army Corps of Engineers when they build their projects is, "God would have done it if he'd had the money."