- Chinese startup ShenZhen SkyWing is offering a Switchblade-style loitering munition for $13,000, excluding the warhead.
- The drone supports GPS-based autonomous navigation, manual control, and modular multi-launch capability.
A Chinese aerospace startup has begun offering a low-cost loitering munition closely modeled on the American Switchblade drone for just $13,000, excluding the warhead, according to promotional materials and technical documentation reviewed by Defence Blog.
ShenZhen SkyWing UAV Technology Co., a private Chinese drone company, has released details of its unnamed system, which it claims is designed for reconnaissance-strike missions and offers key features including a folding-wing airframe, automatic and manual flight control, GPS/GNSS navigation, and multi-platform coordination.
According to the company’s specifications, the drone has a maximum takeoff weight of 6 kilograms and a cruising speed between 135 to 150 kilometers per hour. The aircraft supports a payload capacity of 1.5 kilograms, a flight range exceeding 30 kilometers, and an operational ceiling between 100 and 3,000 meters. The manufacturer claims an endurance of over 30 minutes and a communication range of up to 20 kilometers.
The drone is designed to launch from a compact cylindrical tube using either gas or gunpowder propulsion.
“Folded wings and placed into the launcher cylinder and then takes off with high pressure gas launch; Gunpowder launched,” the company stated, adding that “multiple loitering munitions can be launched at one time, and multiple loitering munitions can perform the same flight task or different flight tasks.”
In terms of control systems, the drone supports both remote manual operation and pre-programmed flight routes using GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, or Galileo navigation.
“In the manual control mode, the loitering munition flies in response to the remote control instruction of the ground operator,” the documentation reads. In automatic mode, “the loitering munition will fly according to the scheduled route, and the flight will end at the last coordinate point.”
Additional features include optional photoelectric terminal guidance and dual landing modes: parachute and run-on landing. The airframe can be packed to a folded length of less than 910 mm and a cross-section of no more than 118×118 mm.
The system’s similarity to the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 and 600—which has been widely supplied to Ukrainian forces—suggests an attempt to replicate the design philosophy at a reduced cost.
The company promotes the system as a modular solution composed of four primary subsystems: the aircraft platform, mission load, combat package, and ground control unit. However, the quoted base price of $13,000 reportedly does not include the combat payload and ground control unit.
The introduction of a low-cost Chinese replica of the U.S. Switchblade loitering munition underlines rising global access to expendable drone warfare technology.