The U.S. Marine Corps is testing a small UAV with the potential to conduct kamikaze missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scenario posited for the tests is one that troops could easily encounter on a real mission: an armed insurgent firing from a well-covered position, not easy to eliminate from the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The aircraft, called the Switchblade, could fly either from a ground launch or from the back of an Osprey, directly to the insurgent’s position with a payload of bombs, according to the Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The UAVs in the test carried no real explosives, but performed just as hoped, said Col. James Adams, commanding officer of Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They can kamikaze this thing into a target,” Adams said. “It’s not a huge explosive charge, but like a hand grenade explosive charge.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n