US approves $80 million Switchblade 300 Block 20 kamikaze drone sale to Greece.

The U.S. Department of State has authorized a potential $80.1 million Foreign Military Sale to Greece for 350 Switchblade 300 Block 20 loitering munitions, 35 Fire Control Systems, and associated dual-class support equipment. The proposed procurement establishes an accelerated delivery timeline targeting late 2026 to rapidly field organic, tactical precision-strike capabilities for the Hellenic Armed Forces' Special Warfare Command. This tactical integration aims to secure critical frontier vectors along the Evros River and the Eastern Aegean islands by providing low-altitude, rapid-response reconnaissance and target engagement within a 30-kilometer control radius.

The $80.1 million procurement package consists of 350 tactical rounds and 35 common fire control units designed to establish an initial capability framework for the man-portable, 3.3-kilogram loitering munition system. Integrating modular payload configurations alongside shared charging infrastructure for the larger Switchblade 600 allows Greek operational formations to streamline logistical pipelines and introduce layered, anti-armor and anti-personnel strike capabilities across contested environments.

Related topic: Greece purchases 592 US-made Switchblade 300 and 600 loitering munitions for Special Forces

The Switchblade 300 Block 20's modular payload bay can accept either a fragmentation warhead or an Explosively Formed Penetrator before launch. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

On July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of State authorized a possible $80.1 million Foreign Military Sale to Greece for 350 Switchblade 300 Block 20 loitering munitions, 35 Fire Control Systems (FCS), and an associated support package that also contains equipment for the larger Switchblade 600. The approval allows Washington and Athens to proceed with a Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), but it does not yet constitute a production contract and does not require Greece to spend the full notified ceiling amount. The definitive value will depend on the number of support items retained, training requirements, delivery arrangements, spare holdings, and the level of contractor assistance negotiated before signature.

AeroVironment is the principal contractor, and the proposed package includes Switchblade 600 Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module GPS components, Switchblade 600 Fire Control Systems, Switchblade 300 tactical battery chargers, Switchblade 600 smart battery chargers, spare parts, operator instruction, engineering support, field service representatives, and logistics services. According to available information, Greece expects the first deliveries by late 2026, compared with an earlier schedule that placed initial arrival in 2028. The first operational users are expected to come from the Hellenic Armed Forces' Special Warfare Command, followed by infantry and mechanized infantry units assigned to the Evros frontier and the Eastern Aegean islands.

The ratio of 350 munitions to 35 Fire Control Systems provides one controller for every ten Switchblade 300 Block 20 rounds. In practical terms, this could support 35 independent firing elements if each received one controller. However, part of the inventory would have to remain assigned to training, maintenance instruction, acceptance testing, and reserve holdings. A ten-round allocation per team would also represent only a limited wartime stock if the weapon were used regularly, because each Switchblade is expended during an engagement and cannot be recovered for reuse. If Greece divided the 350 rounds equally among ten operational formations, each formation would receive 35 munitions, while an allocation across 20 units would reduce the average to 17 or 18 rounds.

These figures illustrate that the purchase establishes an initial capability rather than a large war reserve for sustained high-intensity operations. The inclusion of Switchblade 600 control and charging equipment indicates that Athens intends to create a common support base for two munition classes, reducing the need to introduce completely separate operator consoles, battery procedures and training pipelines when the larger anti-armor weapon enters service. The Switchblade 300 Block 20 is a 1.7 kg munition carried inside a 3.3 kg All-Up Round that includes the weapon and its launcher. The complete tactical package, including the launcher, payload and transport bag, weighs 3.6 kg, allowing one soldier to carry a round inside a standard rucksack.

A realistic team load would be heavier because the unit must also transport the tablet controller, extended-range antenna, batteries, communications equipment, personal weapon, ammunition, water and protective equipment. Two complete rounds alone would weigh 7.2 kg before adding the Fire Control System and soldier equipment, while four rounds would total 14.4 kg. The Block 20 introduces a modular payload bay that can accept either a fragmentation warhead or an Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP). The fragmentation payload is intended for personnel, exposed crews, weapon teams, and unprotected equipment, while the EFP forms a focused metal penetrator suitable for light and medium-armored vehicles. This modularity expands the target set, but it also requires Greek units to issue the correct payload before deployment because the operator cannot change warheads after launch.

With the extended-range antenna, the Switchblade 300 Block 20 has a maximum control range of 30 km and an endurance exceeding 20 minutes. At its cruise speed of 101 km/h, a direct 30 km flight would require 17 minutes and 49 seconds, leaving little time for orbiting, target search or a second approach before battery exhaustion. At 20 km, the transit would require 11 minutes and 53 seconds at cruise speed, leaving more than eight minutes for observation and attack, while a 10 km transit would require five minutes and 56 seconds. These calculations show that the published 30 km range is primarily an engagement reach rather than a guarantee that the weapon can loiter for an extended period at maximum distance. Terminal speed reaches 161 km/h, equivalent to 44.7 meters per second, reducing the final 1 km of the attack to 22 seconds if flown at maximum dash speed.

The weapon normally operates below 500 ft AGL, or 152.4 meters, but can function from terrain above 15,000 ft ASL, or 4,572 meters. Moreover, three selectable attack angles and adjustable detonation settings allow the operator to tailor the final approach to vehicle orientation, trench geometry, surrounding structures, and the location of exposed personnel. The Block 20's electro-optical and infrared sensor suite provides real-time day and night imagery during transit, orbit and terminal attack. Forward and left-hand panning cameras are intended to maintain target observation while the munition changes direction, reducing the periods in which the operator loses visual contact during maneuvering. The tablet-based Fire Control System combines route planning, Tap-to-Target guidance, simulator functions, target tracking and engagement control in one device.

Cursor-on-target functions can generate GPS coordinates from the tracked image, allowing the operator to transmit a target location to artillery, mortars, another drone, or a second Switchblade team even if the munition does not conduct the strike itself. The Digital Data Link uses expanded frequency hopping and AES-256 encryption, which complicates interception and allows several systems to operate in the same area without assigning a fixed frequency to each team. Frequency hopping and encryption do not eliminate vulnerability to electronic attack, however, because broadband jamming can still degrade the control link, GPS spoofing can affect navigation, and radio-frequency emissions can expose the operator's location to direction-finding systems.

Greek procedures will therefore need to emphasize short transmission periods, antenna discipline, alternative navigation methods, rapid displacement and separation between the launch point and the command position where terrain permits. The Block 20 can be prepared and launched by one operator in less than two minutes, but a single-person deployment would impose substantial limitations during combat. One individual would have to carry the round and controller, establish communications, secure the site, launch the weapon, monitor the video feed, confirm the target, obtain engagement authorization, and remain alert to nearby threats. A two-person or three-person team would permit one operator to control the munition while another provides local security, manages communications, carries additional rounds, and observes the surrounding area.

Still, the Switchblade 300's operational value lies in reducing the number of steps between target detection and weapon impact. A conventional sequence could require a patrol to identify a target, transmit coordinates to company or battalion headquarters, request fire support, receive approval, assign an artillery unit or aircraft, and then correct the strike. With a Switchblade, the same tactical element can detect, observe and engage the target directly, reducing the risk that a vehicle, mortar team or reconnaissance unit moves before fires arrive. The wave-off and recommit functions also allow the operator to cancel the terminal approach, circle away and attack again if civilians, friendly troops or a misidentified object appear before impact.

For the Hellenic Armed Forces, geography will likely determine how the Switchblade 300 Block 20 is distributed and employed. On the Eastern Aegean islands, a 30 km control radius from an inland position could cover multiple coastal approaches, road junctions and likely landing areas without placing the team directly on the shoreline. Mountainous terrain and dense settlements could restrict line-of-sight communications, requiring elevated antennas, relay positions or launch sites selected specifically for radio coverage. Amphibious raiding units could employ the Block 20 against landing teams, light vehicles, command groups, communications equipment, mortar positions and small craft operating near the coast, while heavier targets would require the Switchblade 600 or another anti-armor weapon.

Along the Evros frontier, the Block 20 could be used against reconnaissance vehicles, dismounted anti-tank teams, logistics trucks, bridging parties, forward command posts and artillery observers beyond the range of small arms and many direct-fire weapons. The Switchblade 600 would cover tanks, armored fighting vehicles, air defense systems and command vehicles at greater depth. The two weapons would therefore create a layered structure, with the 300 assigned to dismounted teams for short-notice engagements and the 600 positioned with vehicle-supported units for heavier and more distant targets. The Greek acquisition also reflects the transition of loitering munitions from specialized anti-radar weapons into standard tactical strike assets.

The IAI Harpy and the AGM-136 Tacit Rainbow were developed during the 1980s to remain over suspected air defense zones until hostile radar emissions exposed a target, making Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEADs) their central mission. During the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, smaller drones shifted the concept toward patrol-level engagements against ambush teams, firing positions and fleeting targets that could disappear before aircraft or artillery arrived. The Nagorno-Karabakh war demonstrated their repeated use against armored vehicles, artillery and air defense systems, while the war in Ukraine has shown that effectiveness now depends heavily on data-link resilience, operator concealment, navigation under GPS interference and access to replacement rounds.

The Switchblade 300 Block 20 occupies the lighter end of this category with a 3.3 kg All-Up Round, a 30 km maximum range, more than 20 minutes of endurance and two selectable warhead types. Its main operational advantage is not raw range or explosive mass, but the ability to place reconnaissance, target confirmation and precision strike inside one expendable round controlled by a small unit. Its main limitations are equally concrete: each launch consumes the munition, maximum-range missions leave little loiter time, electronic warfare can disrupt control, and an inventory of 350 rounds can be depleted quickly if the weapon is used at scale.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.

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