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The United States will send Ukraine 100 killer drones as part of the Biden administration’s massive military aid package, Texas Rep. Mike McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told POLITICO.
According to Press TV, the revelation comes after US President Joe Biden announced the new $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, following a virtual address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the US Congress.
“The United States and our allies and partners are fully committed to surging weapons of assistance to the Ukrainians, and more will be coming as we source additional stocks of equipment that we’re ready to transfer,” Biden said on Wednesday.
The drones were referred to as “100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems” by the White House in a fact sheet on the package, according to NBC News.
There are two variants of the weapon, the Switchblade 300 designed for pinpoint strikes on personnel and the larger 600 meant to destroy tanks and other armored vehicles.
However, it is still unclear which variant would be provided to Ukraine, or whether both would be, NBC News said in its report.
Equipped with cameras, guidance systems and explosives, the Switchblades are essentially robotic smart bombs which can be programmed to automatically strike targets miles away. They can be steered around objectives until the time is right to hit.
In addition to the drones, the new military package also includes 800 anti-aircraft systems; 9,000 anti-armor systems; 7,000 machine guns, shotguns and grenade launchers with 20 million rounds of ammunition.
The package comes from the massive spending bill Biden signed into law on Tuesday, which includes $13.6 billion total in new aid to Ukraine.
