U.S.-made drones will be sent to Ukraine with the additional $800 million in military assistance that Joe Biden announced on Wednesday. At least 100 Switchblade Tactical Drones will be in the package. And the Switchblades will be an important part of the drone war being fought by Ukraine.
Elite Aerorozvidka fighting the drone war
An elite unit, the Aerorozvidka, is the drone operation for both air reconnaissance and attack, within the Ukrainian army.
The team uses drones to fly on nighttime attacks to destroy Russian tanks and trucks. And has destroyed dozens of high-priority targets.
Russian forces stop moving in the dark. And typically hide their tanks in between houses in villages, Yaroslav Honchar, the Kyiv unit commander, told the New York Times.
“We strike at night when Russians sleep,” Honchar explained. “In the night it’s impossible to see our drones.”
“We look specifically for the most valuable truck in the convoy and then we hit it precisely and we can do it really well with very low collateral damage. Even in the villages, it’s possible. You can get much closer at night,” he said.
