February 13, 2023: Italian special operations forces have ordered the Israeli Hero-30 loitering munition. This is the first European country to choose Hero-30 rather than the American Switchblade. Both these lightweight man-transportable systems are troops favorites in general but especially useful for special operations units. That’s because special operations troops have to travel light and put more emphasis on reconnaissance and surveillance than combat. Hero-30 is reusable while Switchblade is not.

A complete Switchblade system (missile, container, and controller) weighs 5.5 kg (12.1 pounds). Switchblade was very popular with troops in Afghanistan, where it was first tested, and with SOCOM in all sorts of places they won’t discuss in detail. Switchblade is still widely used with over 5,000 produced so far. Switchblade first saw combat in 2009 and each one costs about $80,000. For SOCOM forces, who often travel light into enemy territory, hauling along a Switchblade or two can be crucial for completing a mission, not to mention a lifesaver in emergencies. Users regarded Switchblade as a micro-UAV/cruise missile. It was both aerial surveillance and a weapon. More importantly, it could be carried and used by individual troops. Moving at up to a kilometer a minute, the Switchblade can stay in the air for 10-15 minutes (depending on whether or not it is armed with explosives) and remain under operator control up to ten kilometers away. The armed version can be flown to a target and detonated, having about the same explosive effect as a hand grenade. Thus, Switchblade enables ground troops to get at an enemy taking cover in a hard to see location. Technically a guided missile, the use of Switchblade as a reconnaissance tool encouraged developers to refer to it as a UAV. But because of the warhead option, and its slow speed, Switchblade also functions like a rather small cruise missile and can be flown by its controller or autonomously via GPS coordinates. The troops were particularly enthusiastic about the armed version because it allowed them to easily take out snipers or a few bad guys in a compound full of civilians.

Israel has been developing and using similar, but much larger, systems since the 1990s and called them loitering munitions. The Israeli firm producing the larger Hero loitering munition noted the success of the American “mini-loitering munition”. In 2015 An Israeli firm introduced a new loitering UAV portable enough (weighing 3 kg/6.6 pounds) for infantry to carry and use. The Hero 30 has 30 minutes endurance and has a small warhead that can be used to turn it into a weapon if the onboard vidcam indicates a target that has to be taken care of immediately. Otherwise, it can be landed and reused. Hero 30 is based on the older Hero 400 which weighs 40 kg and has an 8 kg (18 pound) warhead. This UAV has a four-hour endurance and can operate up to 150 kilometers from the operator. The even larger Hero-1250 can stay in the air over ten hours and travel more than 200 kilometers from the operator. But Israel noticed that the United States was having a lot of success (and demand from SOCOM and infantry units) for the similar (to Hero 400) but much smaller Switchblade.

While Switchblade underwent many upgrades since 2007, it never added reusability. Several Israeli firms have developed reusable systems similar to Hero-30 and some are much smaller. In combat troops need information about their immediate surroundings more than they need more firepower. It’s easier to call in more firepower than it is to get some immediate information on what is going on around you. This is especially true with special operations forces.

With Italian special operations forces adopting Hero-30, the Israeli manufacturer and their European distributor have their first sale of Hero-30 in Europe, where Switchblade had been the portable loitering munition of choice for over a decade. U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) can buy whatever they need from whoever sells it and that means American operators are familiar with the various Israeli reusable loitering munitions, some of which don’t even have an explosives option. They continue to use various models of Switchblade to get their missions accomplished. The SOCOM approach is “whatever works.”