U.S.-made Switchblade UAVs "Insignificant," Russian Orlan-type Drones Needed: Ukrainian Expert

United States- made 'Switchblade-300,' Kamikaze drones supplied to the Ukrainian Forces have had "insignificant" impact on the battlefield as they are not powerful enough to destroy enemy heavy equipment such as tanks and armored vehicles.

"The Switchblade-300 attack drones lack sufficiently powerful standard uniform ammunition, as well as launchers with high-precision targeting," according to Major General Yuriy Danyk, Advisor to the General Director of Ukroboronprom (Ukrainian Arms Production Agency) on high-tech systems.

Instead, the Ukrainian Army need attack UAVs similar to the Russian 'Orlan' Drone, which is not only budget-friendly but easy to manufacture and use; besides it is sufficiently resistant to damage, he said.

"We need our own similar models, preferably better than what the enemy has," Danyk said in an interview to a Ukrainian Website, Dev.ua.

Ukraine suffering due to lack of "unified" drones

"Today, the Ukrainian military uses more than 100 different models of unmanned aerial systems of various origins. Partner countries gave something, volunteers bought something," he said which is creating logistical issues in terms of training, launcher systems, ammunition and payload.

To operate at an operational depth, UAVs must be "unified," in terms of similarity of ground control systems, servicing, engines and payload. "UAVs are needed that can stay in the air for at least 24 hours and perform tasks at a range of 80-180km with different, but also unified payloads," he commented.

The time spent in the air by such drones determines the effectiveness of their combat use. Including how long they will perform a combat mission in relation to the time of going to the place of its execution and returning back. How many times in the process of combat use the drone will be forced to fly across the line of contact while trying not to come under anti-aircraft fire and the effect of EW devices.