Russia has created a drone similar to the American Switchblade, but twice as powerful
Russian designers reverse engineer American Switchblade miniature loitering munition and have created a drone twice as powerful as the American Switchblade 300.
Against the background of how unmanned aerial vehicles were able to successfully prove themselves in hostilities, emphasizing the success of their use against various targets, Russian designers developed a kamikaze drone, which in its design is almost similar to the American Switchblade 300 drone, but almost twice as powerful as it, which allows destroying not only enemy manpower and unarmored vehicles, but also hit heavily armored vehicles.
We are talking about the LAOP-500 drone, developed by the Android Technology Research and Production Association. A single-use aircraft (LAOP) is capable of hitting targets at distances up to 5 kilometers, remaining in flight for up to 20 minutes. The launch of the drone, as in the case of the American Switchblade drones, occurs with the help of a special launcher that throws the drone to a height and accelerates it to a speed that ensures its flight. However, unlike the American Switchblade 300 drone, the Russian unmanned aerial vehicle carries a payload of about 500 grams of TNT, which makes it possible to successfully hit targets in a fairly large radius.
There is no information yet on whether the Russian military used this kamikaze drone against Ukrainian forces, but it looks like it may soon appear on the front lines.
It should be noted that Kyiv is now receiving drones of various types from NATO countries, and Turkey plans to build a UAV assembly plant directly on the territory of Ukraine.