Loitering munitions with 40-minute endurance force operators to make kill decisions under fuel pressure

Current tactical loitering munitions (Switchblade 300, Hero-30) have 15-40 minute endurance. Once launched, the operator must find and engage a target before the battery dies or lose the $50-100K munition. This creates a use-it-or-lose-it pressure that incentivizes engaging marginal targets rather than waiting for high-value ones. In Ukraine, operators report engaging vehicles that turned out to be civilian because waiting for positive ID would have exhausted the munition's fuel. This persists because battery energy density limits flight time, and increasing endurance requires larger airframes that lose the tactical advantage of backpack-portability. No recovery mechanism exists for most loitering munitions -- they are destroyed whether they hit a target or not.