Lithuania gets its first Switchblade 600 attack drones

Lithuania has received its first batch of Switchblade 600 loitering munitions, U.S.-made attack drones built to hunt tanks and other armored vehicles, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence said on X.

The ministry did not disclose how many drones arrived, which units will operate them, or when the remaining deliveries are due. Lithuania signed the purchase with the U.S. government in December 2022 in a deal worth about €45 million (about $50.4 million) that also covers launch and control equipment, a maintenance package and a training simulator.

“The system gives the Lithuanian Armed Forces a new long-range precision strike capability against armored targets,” the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence wrote.

AeroVironment, based in Arlington, Virginia, builds the Switchblade 600. Soldiers launch it from a tube and guide it with a tablet-based control unit, letting the drone circle over an area until they pick a target and send it diving in. The company lists more than 40 minutes of flight time and a demonstrated standoff range of more than 40 km (25 miles) for the original version, which carries the same type of anti-armor warhead used on the Javelin missile.

When the contract was signed, then-Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said the drones would let Lithuanian forces destroy enemy tanks and other armored equipment up to 40 km away, a capability the military had not had before. The ministry said Lithuania was the first country after the United States to buy the system, and a ministry spokesperson declined at the time to say how many Switchblade 600s had been ordered. Deliveries were scheduled for 2025 and 2026.

The 2022 announcement also said the United States would supply the smaller Switchblade 300, paid for with U.S. military assistance funds. The ministry’s latest post did not mention the Switchblade 300.

AeroVironment unveiled an upgraded Switchblade 600 Block 2 in October 2025, with about 20 percent more endurance, more than 50 minutes of flight time and a reach of more than 100 km (62 miles) when control is handed off between operators. The company said it had raised Switchblade 600 production from 40 to 240 systems a month over the previous year. The ministry did not say which version Lithuania received.

Ukraine has used the Switchblade 600 in combat against Russian armor after the United States began sending the drones following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

The Switchblade order is one of several major U.S. purchases Lithuania has made in recent years, alongside HIMARS rocket launchers, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.