Thread by @ClintEhrlich

The Biden White House refuses to specify which type of "Switchblade" drone it's providing Ukraine.

If it's the 300 model, it will be strategically irrelevant.

If it's the 600 model, it's a nightmare for Russian armored divisions. 🧵

The switchblades are often called "loitering munitions."

That's just a fancy euphemism for "kamikaze drones."

They stay in the air for extended periods of time, until they ID a target and crash into it with an explosive charge.

The difference between the Switchblade 300 and 600 models is size, range, and lethality.

As this @AFP infographic illustrates, the Switchblade 600 is a much larger, heavier system capable of disabling enemy tanks from standoff range.

The White House has only said it is sending 100 Switchblades to Ukraine, without specifying which model.

It's possible that a mixture of 300s and 600s is being sent.

But if so, it isn't clear why that information would be withheld .

There's two major possibilities.

First, the U.S. may only be sending Switchblade 300s, but it doesn't want to publicly reveal that it's failing to deliver more capable weapons.

Second, the U.S. may actually be sending Switchblade 600s, but it thinks the move will be less escalatory if it's not fully announced.

In other words, the Biden White House may fear Russia escalating use of its own strategic weapons in response to the Switchblade deliveries.

Neither of these rationales are particularly flattering for the White House.

If it's only delivering Switchblade 300s to Ukraine, it's not fighting the proxy war effectively.

And if it thinks Russia won't react to a covert delivery of Switchblade 600s, it's dead wrong.

Conclusion: It's not entirely clear what U.S. policy really is on kamikaze drones to Ukraine.

But whatever we're doing, it doesn't quite make sense.

Which is... pretty typical for this White House.