US Army Armored Brigade Fires Switchblade 600 Loitering Munition in First Live Exercise.

Soldiers from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted the division’s first Switchblade 600 live fire during the Pegasus Charge exercise at Fort Cavazos (Fort Hood), Texas, on Sept. 15. The event advances the Army’s “Transforming in Contact” push to integrate unmanned systems for beyond-line-of-sight surveillance and precision strike in armored formations.

On September 29, 2025, the US Army reported that the 1st Cavalry Division conducted its first Switchblade 600 live fire with the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team during the Pegasus Charge exercise in Texas on September 15. The training aligns with the Army’s Transforming in Contact initiative to integrate unmanned, longer-range precision effects alongside legacy armored capabilities. The battery-powered, tube-launched Switchblade 600 provides EO/IR sensing, more than 40 minutes of endurance, and extended-range anti-armor strikes without external sensors. It introduces loitering munitions into routine brigade-level training, expanding standoff options against hardened and moving targets.
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The Switchblade 600 loitering munition system was launched during a live-fire exercise at Fort Hood, Texas, on September 15, 2025. (Picture source: US DoD)

Captain Jeffrey Weller, who commands a multifunctional reconnaissance troop within the brigade, stated that the system allows engagements roughly 5 to 15 kilometers in front of the forward line of troops. This envelope corresponds to how a heavy brigade maneuvers, with reconnaissance and security elements operating ahead of the main body. The Switchblade 600 has a broader technical reach, with a demonstrated 60 kilometer range and up to 90 kilometers via Forward Pass relay, but commanders often employ it where link quality is assured, airspace is deconflicted, and decisions can be supported at brigade or battalion level. The fact that the 1st Cavalry Division, a leading armored formation, is among the first heavy units to field it indicates the technology’s movement from special operations and light infantry into combined arms teams.

On the equipment side, soldiers used a tube launcher that can be set quickly in semi-wooded or open terrain. Launch is performed from an autonomous container deployable on land, at sea, or from an aerial platform, with preparation and firing in under ten minutes. The electric airframe provides more than 40 minutes of endurance. The munition weighs about 15 kilograms, while the Airframe Unmanned Round is 29.5 kilograms, keeping the package portable for a small team. Electric propulsion, quieter than a small combustion engine, is useful in training areas and operations. The payload is substantial. The armament is an anti-armor warhead derived from Javelin, intended to deliver a precise effect on vehicles and hardened points. A two-axis stabilized optronic turret combines four EO/IR sensors, enabling identification, tracking, and Tap to Target engagement from an FCU tablet that includes mission planning and a simulator. In use, the munition loiters around 70 mph and can sprint to about 115 mph in the terminal phase, allowing exploitation of short windows against moving targets.

The navigation and mission profile reflect current employment of loitering munitions. After a cold launch, the Switchblade transitions to flight, follows waypoints, can loiter over a designated area, then execute a strike, or disengage and reposition. The crew retains the option to wave off and recommit until the terminal phase to avoid collateral damage. The operator’s sensing and control loop is central. Crews use onboard cameras to identify, confirm, and then engage, with the option to interrupt mid flight if the situation changes or friendly elements enter the area. Brigade operators completed a five-day manufacturer course before the live fire. Specialist Drake Cross, experienced on Shadow and RQ-28, said the interface felt familiar, with the difference that the aircraft now carries a munition, and adjustments can be made up to impact.

Technical parameters matter only if they produce a repeatable tactical effect. In a heavy brigade, that means giving reconnaissance elements and companies the ability to strike across defilade, hit a moving vehicle column, or neutralize an anti-tank guided missile team without exposing a Bradley section or a dismounted patrol. Weller’s 5 to 15 kilometer planning factor matches how brigades shape the fight in front of the main effort. A loitering munition can wait for a vehicle to clear cover, pause while electronic warfare checks for friendly emitters, or hold until the airspace control order opens a window. Crew protection and system resilience rest first on standoff and control of effects, and also on a frequency-hopping, AES-256 encrypted digital datalink that reduces exposure to jamming and enables handoff or relay to extend the employment envelope. Interoperability with the Switchblade 300 Block 20 FCU simplifies adoption in units already equipped with this family.

Armed forces have observed rapid growth in drone use and countermeasures in Ukraine and other recent conflicts. Units learned that small unmanned aircraft can find targets and that loitering munitions can prosecute them, sometimes within minutes, sometimes after a wait. Heavy formations were not exempt and had to integrate these lessons. The 1st Cavalry Division training event shows a large unit incorporating this use into routine practice, not as a niche capability but as a standard tool for screening and striking. The division plans to employ the system at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, where training adversaries test assumptions from link reliability to artillery deconfliction to the survivability of launch crews under observation. Actual value and limits will be assessed there, in a contested spectrum and under time pressure. The spread of loitering munitions among state and non-state actors has lowered the cost of precision at the tactical level. Allies and competitors are moving along the same path, developing or importing systems, which drives a secondary race in countermeasures and signature management. A brigade able to launch quietly, wait, and strike a command post or vehicle beyond small-arms range alters adversary movement patterns and forces armored units to reconsider exposure on the battlefield. The 1st Cavalry Division’s live fire does not address industrial output, training pipelines, or sustainment tempo, but it places the system in the hands of crews who will work through those issues in exercises and, if required, operations.