Want to See the Army‘s New ’Mini Suicide Drone’ in Action?
- Posted on October 20, 2011 at 11:55am by
Buck Sexton
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The U.S. military’ newest drone is a twenty-first century take on the kamikaze that can both surveil and eliminate America’s foes in a suicide attack— and it all fits in a backpack. 
Called the Switchblade, this new lethal unmanned aerial vehicle is a highly portable “magic bullet” that can engage enemies Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS), which gives a remarkable tactical advantage to our troops in theater. The enemy’s ability to hide beyond fortifications when ambushing our troops from fixed fighting positions should be substantially diminished by this new technology.
The drone’s manufacturer, AeroVironment, expands on the mission set and specifications of this hyper-advanced warfare tool:
“The drone gives a powerful but expendable miniature flying Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) package on a target within minutes. This miniature, remotely-piloted or autonomous platform can either glide or propel itself via quiet electric propulsion, providing real-time GPS coordinates and video for information gathering, targeting, or feature/object recognition.”
The small size and quiet motor make it difficult to detect, recognize, and track even at very close range. The Switchblade can be deployed by an individual solider or be launched from a number of air and ground platforms.
Watch the video of the suicide drone in action below, courtesy of AeroVironment:
(H/T Business Insider)
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Comments (132)
mikenleeds
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:45pmthat s freaking awesome ,, i ve got to get me one of those toys
Report Post »WMDeception
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:11pmtroll or oblivious to life?
Report Post »ImJusSayin
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:13pmNo doubt, wonder if they have them at Cabelas yet LOL
Report Post »chazman
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:17pm… man oh man, somebody shoot me a price on a gross of those things!
Report Post »Applehead
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:13pmWe’ll see it up close and personal one day when its being used against us!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:29pm“that s freaking awesome” not when they arm the red light cameras with them. (kidding) ?
Report Post »robert
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:56pmReally an incredible addition to ground forces.
It’s impressive.
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 6:57pmYou’re going to get one, alright.
Wait until they deploy it against YOU for deciding not to bow down to the Police State being erected around us.
Report Post »Carl McPherson
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 8:00pm@Applehead
Precisely my first thought also.
Report Post »ThomasNast
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 9:46amDon’t worry McPherson – I’m working with skynet to develop a terminator to protect us.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:40pmSeeing how Obama loves his drone attacks, I expect to see these being used everywhere.
Standing at the window
Report Post »A farmer’s wife in Oxfordshire
Glances all the clock it’s nearly time for tea
She doesn’t see
The phantom in the hedgerow dip its wings
Doesn’t hear the engine sing
But in the cockpit’s techno glow
Behind the Ray Ban shine
The kid from Cleveland
In the comfort of routine
Scans his dials and smiles
Secure in the beauty of military life
There is no right no wrong
Only tin cans and cordite and white cliffs
And blue skies and flight flight flight
The beauty of military life
No questions only orders and flight only flight
What a beautiful sight in his wild blue dream
The eternal child leafs through his
War magazine
And his kind Uncle Sam feeds ten trillion in
Change into the total entertainment
Combat video game
And up here in the stands
The fans are goin’ wild
The cheerleaders flip
When you wiggle your hip
And we all like the bit when you take
The jeans from the refrigerator and
The the bad guy gets hit
And were you struck by the satisfying
Way the swimsuit sticks to her skin
Like BB gun days
When knives pierce autumn leaves
But that’s okay see the children bleed
It’ll look great on the TV
And in Tripoli another ordinary wife
Stares at the dripping tap her old man hadn’t
Time to fix
Too busy mixing politics and rhythm
In the street below
Quasimofo
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 2:42pm+10 pts. for incorporating Roger Waters lyrics
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:51pmEvery politician should have to listen to “Amused to Death” start to finish before taking office.
Report Post »Ex-Democrat
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 6:02amI would prefer that they read the Constitution of the United States from start to finish.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:39pmDo WE THE PEOPLE get to choose the targets???? Pretty please with sugar on it?
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:25pmone can dream…….
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:39pmWALL STREET is that a way —————————————————-> 8 8 8 8 8 (Protesting Dip Wads)
Report Post »TeaPartyDragon
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:55pmDC is that way——->…..
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:20pmAs far as Mr Obama is concerned; he probably has plans laid for their use on the Republcian and Tea Party leadership…
Report Post »king1
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 2:45pmoccupyers are that way ——————————->>> :P :P :P :P:P :P:P :P:P :P:P :P:P :P:P :P:P :P
Report Post »neocon1
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:43pmROTFLMAO….washington….
Report Post »Logic77
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:38pmGenius, I love it, we need to get a lot of these to our brave men in the field.
Report Post »WMDeception
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:12pmlol your mind needs a reset button
Report Post »TimeLifeEditor
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 11:00pmGreat plans to export them to our newly liberated!
Report Post »KenInIL
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 3:59amSo how much are these by the 1000? $10, $100, $1000, $10,000, $100,000, $1,000,000? Knowing the sharp negotiators at DODef it is probably $10M !!
We are buying 2000 F-33 at $150,000,000 apiece which some 21-yr old can loose control of because everything happens so fast when you are going 1000 mph and plant it in the ground.
Report Post »Ferrarello
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:35pmThe TSA are now molesting people and violating the 4th Amendment in Tennessee. Tyranny is here. The new Obama Gestapo can do anything they want to you.
Report Post »Drakkhanlord
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:50pmi made a rocket glider like this way back in the day …no explosives at the time but can build with the rocket kits . No visual feed or other fun toys , but works.
Report Post »randy57
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 2:20pmyou know bush did stuff like this too right?
Report Post »neocon1
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 4:45pmBOOOOOOOSHHHHHHHH
BDS and BS seem to go together.
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:31pmThat is so cool!….
Report Post »But if we have it now…then it’s a good bet that our enemies will have it soon….and they are not bound by public opinion regarding the way they deploy it.
I hope we have something in the works to intercept the terrorists who try to deploy such a weapon. Otherwise we are looking at a whole new form for terrorism.
Eliasim
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:30pmThere‘s just something about death and destruction I don’t like no matter who is doing it.
Report Post »Zoe
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:23pmTrue That, but we are @ War on many fronts : (
Report Post »GJPinks
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:24pmIf you were pinned down by snipers, I suspect you just might change your mind.
Report Post »Stryker
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 7:48pm“If you were pinned down by snipers, I suspect you just might change your mind.”
EXACTLY!!! Preach it Brother!
Report Post »Krutch
Posted on October 21, 2011 at 11:39amSo…you would rather our guys just wait until the enemy run out of bullets?
Report Post »Slaynfire
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:29pmSee! it’s so amazing what the government can do. They made this amazing tool for our troops.
Wait. What? A private company did this. Oh! Well, its the government who built the roads and educated the people for those who work there, so see it is the government who did.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:45pmreally though, it’s private companies who actually build the roads… the government simply takes your land and allows a private company to pave it… you might get a fair price for it… probably not. sucker.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:28pmOld news…Saw it in e-mails months ago…
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:28pmConsider all of these no-risk tools our military uses, which take the individual soldier out of pretty much all danger and allows the enemy no chance to even see his adversary face to face or damage him.
Now, consider the current path of our government towards all out fascism/communism (take your pick, depending on how you see nationalism going, that is, receding or growing).
Ask yourself how long before you get to see one of these kinds of no-risk to the soldier tools right before it impacts your home and kills you and your children.
There is nothing to celebrate about weapons that make war effortless and those who engage in it into invincible, untouchable gods. If this were defense only, I’d be 100% for it and cooing like most here. It’s not, and I believe that should we ever fully cross over into totalitarianism, these things will be aimed at us, either here or to whatever nation we flee to.
Understand I say this from the same honesty and principles I say everything else, I’m not trying to shock or be contrarian.
Report Post »Meyvn
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:46pmIndeed.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 1:24pmAbsolutely correct, but something you are missing is the simplicity of this device made possible by the advancement of Commercial-Off The Shelf devices. See my post at the very bottom of page two.
In so far as these technologies make prosecution and persecution of domestic dissidents easy for a totalitarian government, they are also available to those dissidents. I could see these things being made available in kit-form or through plans on the Internet, such that they can be camouflaged inside Pringles cans.
Add a mini tripod for a hand-held digital camera, which would not be out of place in a civilian backpack, along side the Pringles can, and the only thing that could tip off an officer searching it would be the video downlink and RC transmitter, which can be made small enough to fit inside a Pringles can themselves. You could even reseal the top of a used Pringles can to make it impossible to identify that it contained an RC kamikaze drone or its attendant controller set… except by its heft.
There would be the issue of adding an explosive payload to an otherwise empty payload bay, but that is for the end user, not the designer or kit seller, to fill.
Report Post »Rightallalong
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:04pm@Ghost
I was thinking about that very same thing and wondereing how I could put it into words for mass consumption on this site. I seem to have read somewhere that when you take the fear and danger out of war it becomes so much ‘fun’ that all of us without such weapons easily become the targets of those with the weapons, and in this case its our tyranical government. I will look for the exact quote …
Report Post »chris.duncan
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:26pmok, so with your logic we should go back to fighting wars with wooden clubs and large stones right? i say the less danger our troops are put in the better, the truth is that any weapon can be turned on innocents, if the government really wanted to kill civilians they would have no problem doing it with or without these drones, and by the way the best defense is a good offense, you cant win a war with soldiers armed with nothing but shields, pacifist
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:28pmI think it’s dangerous to keep providing our military with more and more advanced hardware while the Washington D.C is infested with these NEW WORLD ORDER POLITICIANS. We could in theory be arming the Capital of NWOer’s with weapons to use against the citizens.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:36pmOutstanding, I’m glad somebody else notices this. I was honestly afraid I’d be the lone voice in the woods on this.
Report Post »Will4Freedom
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:51pmI would just like to interject… no matter how many billions we pour into our military, we still have not defeated a relatively less technological people willing to die for a cause. So don’t write off Americans quite so fast.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 2:05pmMaybe we should put them back on horseback with muskets? Come on guys. The military has had superior fire power over the citizenry for quite a while now.
Report Post »GhostOfJefferson
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 2:57pmIf I had my druthers in fantasy land, horseback and rusty swords would be the order of the day.
We have not fought a defensive war since WW2, in fact we’ve not fought an *actual* war since WW2. Prior to that the last time we were actually invaded was the war of 1812. We have no need to be tromping all over the world that would require us “to keep those brave boys in uniform safe”.
Bring everybody back and make us a defensive only military force, and I’ll applaud this weapon. Until then I see nothing good in it, it’s being/will be used to further unConstitutional actions.
Report Post »Rightallalong
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:16pmDeath, destruction, disease, horror. That’s what war is all about. That’s what makes it a thing to be avoided. This type of weapons is starting us down the path that makes it neat and painless (at least for our guys). And when something is so neat and painless, you’ve had no reason to stop it.
If we as a country have no risk in war then what is it that will stop us from waging it forever. If we could kill millions of brown people every year in Iraq, Iran, Libya and not risk our guys then we the people would embrace it as we embrace our favorite football team.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:36pmOnly one way to set it straight allow private citizens the right to own this hardware as well.
Report Post »And Gonzo maybe you missed events like during Katrina where armed forces invade private citizens homes and took their only means of protectionj from looters and robbers. I DIDN’T Those were U.S Soldiers that swore an oath to protect and serve the Constitution following UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDERS because they were told to do it. And don’t forget Ruby Ridge or Waco where people were targeted for practicing their second amendment rights By U.S. Government officals. Those things were merely dry runs to gauge reaction from the populus. Citizens rights and in some cases lives were stripped from them because mindless beaurocratic robots jst follow order.
So don’t be so nonchalant in expressing the shear about of fire power that could easily be turned against the citizenry.
TimeLifeEditor
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 11:15pmWhat an anonymous way to influence-manipulate-intimidate the markets
Report Post »BlackAce41
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:28pmMohomad, “I am going outside to take pee i will be right back”….. “Mohomad you should see the size of the bug flying around out here it is huge!” <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:36pmThis will really put the fear of God into them. They really cannot hide from us anywhere. Take a any position and all we have to do is launch this, get a visual and target. Its over. I love it! Our corporations at work. Thanks!
Report Post »SoCalWalt
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:27pmI think I saw them for sale in the Hammacher Schlemmer Christmas catalog. Lol.
Report Post »Eliasim
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:24pmWow, those things work pretty good against an unprepared fighter. I wonder how they will work against China or Russia?
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 3:26pmWe might have to make them way bigger.
Report Post »Tired-of-fools
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:14pmThat thing is wicked cool. I wonder if I can pick one up for myself. I bet they sell them at Wallmart. I have a few targets in mind.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:21pmWell, Christmas is on the way, have you been good this year?
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:11pmCool, looks like one solution and the article said low cost.
Report Post »Cherynn
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:10pmAmerican Technology, winning the future!!!
Report Post »denisp52
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:08pmPraise Allah!
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:17pmLol, here comes one now!
Report Post »OneFunR6
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:32pm“I seeeeeee youuuuu!”
ROF!
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:07pmTake that you primitive schmucks!
Report Post »txrailroader
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:07pmI want one or two please………………… : )
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:06pmI want one!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Rob in Katy
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:06pmI want some!
Report Post »maxedout
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:06pmI‘m lovin’ it! Nice if it could pack a bigger charge, though…..like a mini NUKE!
Report Post »pap pap
Posted on October 20, 2011 at 12:02pmThis is awesome !!!
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