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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.

Since Russia started its invasion, Ukraine has had a lot of success using drones. They have a large inventory of Bayraktar TB-2s which are working for them well.

Aerorozvidka's drone unit can fly up to 300 missions a day. And they are operating using Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system. Which the SpaceX CEO activated in Ukraine days after Russia invaded.

The team uses an advanced Nato-supported intelligence system, Delta, transmitted via Starlink to compile sourced information from satellites and drone reconnaissance. And it enhances their ability to precisely identify targets.

Ukraine has kept up a strategic defense in an attempt to save its cities. They are using the Turkish-made TB-2 drones to carry out effective surprise attacks on the invaders. Western military experts have been surprised at how well the drones are being deployed.

Switchblade Drones join the fight

The Switchblades are also known as “kamikazes.”  They operate as high precision weapons and are designed for single use.  Unlike long-range Predator drones, a trained pilot is not needed to control them from a distance and fire missiles. And they are effective against tanks, armored vehicles and even planes.

They are easy to transport. The Switchblade 100 fits in a backpack.

The Switchblade 600 is larger and heavier. It weighs 54.4 kg (120 lbs.). But it can be set up and launched within about 10 minutes. They have a range of 40 kilometers or 24.8 miles. And can fly at speeds of up to 180 km/hr. (111.8 miles per hour).

These are a new generation weapon. Both models have encrypted communications and work on digital data links. And they are equipped with GPS, a video system and infrared sensors. Multiple Switchblades can operate simultaneously for swarm attacks on multiple targets.

Camera drones show a war in real-time

There is also a large underground volunteer drone force that is spying on the Russian army from the air with camera drones. And documenting the war for all the world, except Russia to see.

Drone footage is often being shown on social media. Aerial video of the destruction of Russian armored vehicles is a key tool for Ukraine's information war against their larger, better armed, attacker.

So far, Ukraine is winning the drone war. And once the Switchblades arrive it may get even better.