In early September, China demonstrated the FH-901 suicide drone, its version of Switchblade, following successful live-fire drills. In a video published by Chinese state-owned media, the Chinese kamikaze drone can be seen attacking and effectively destroying a tank target from above. Besides launching from the ground, the FH-901 can also be released by aircraft in the sky or by another larger drone, the Global Times reported.
The FH-901 loiter munition or suicide drone
These weapons are light enough to be deployed at the company level
This is perhaps the most visual demonstration of how industrial prowess decides the outcome of wars.
Make enough of these, no enemy can survive in the open pic.twitter.com/AqXzSZoCNK— Zhao DaShuai 无条件爱国🇨🇳 (@zhao_dashuai) September 9, 2022
The FH-901 has been noted to have close similarities with the AeroVironment Switchblade in terms of loitering altitudes and impact range. However, the former’s software remains a mystery, as the video alone doesn’t prove to have shown sophisticated technology, with many speculating that the accuracy was just a product of sound editing.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Switchblade version was revealed in August, dubbing it “twice as powerful” compared to the US-made Switchblade suicide drone.
Russian company Android Technics NPO has released its factsheet for the LAOP-500 drone during the Army 2022 defense expo held near Patriot park in Moscow. Accordingly, the Russian drone can be deployed against enemy personnel and unarmored or heavily armored vehicles.
Russia's NPO Android Technics presented a fact sheet on the LAOP 500 loitering munition at Army 2022, which is a Russian version of the Switchblade 300.https://t.co/tMhuRBwRXi pic.twitter.com/BkfWchFQqG
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) August 23, 2022
Android Technics NPO claimed its LAOP-500 drone has twice the capacity of the original American version Switchblade 300 loitering munition. Nonetheless, as stated on its factsheet, the Russian drone can only hit targets within a five-kilometer range and up to 20 minutes of endurance, a feature that the Switchblade 300 munition doubles despite its 15-minute operational duration.
Furthermore, while the LAOP-500 is said to be more powerful than the Switchblade 300, there’s no hard evidence yet demonstrating this so-called fact. All there are claims, while the American Switchblades have been making proven and tested on the battlefield for years. Its Switchblade 600 variant has also been proven to have a range of up to 40 kilometers with an endurance of 40 minutes that can take down heavy-duty targets, which is way over the Russian drone’s claimed capabilities.
India’s Another Significant Milestone
The success of the live-fire testing of the ALS-50 drone marked another milestone for India’s efforts to improve and up its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) industry. The country has been working on the development of its own UAV fleet as early as the 1990s under the initiative of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
So far, three of the four systems built have crashed, prompting the DRDO to import a wide range of Israeli-made drones, such as the medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) Heron I, the Searcher MK II, and the Harop loitering munition, to serve as a benchmark.
Since then, the country has seen improvements with its homegrown development of military equipment—having to employ its first indigenous ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) UAV called SWITCH drone last year.
With its significant progress, India’s armed forces are looking to induct the ALS-50 into active service soon, the Economic Times reported.
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