• Land Warfare

  GDLS claims versatile capabilities for latest UGV

  14th October 2020

  Semi-autonomous TRX is designed to perform a broad range of manned-unmanned teaming tasks

• Training

  Bangladesh takes receipt of Chinese-built trainer jets

  16th October 2020

  Seven K-8W trainer jets, built by the Hongdu Aviation Industry Corporation (HAIC) in China, touched down in Bangladesh on 15 October. Photos released by the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment enhances Puma range

  11th August 2020

  The Puma UAS product line from AeroVironment is being enhanced with a new smart battery and bungee launch system (BLS), the US company announced on …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment to modify Raven RF

  9th July 2020

  The US Army is exercising a contract option with AeroVironment for avionics and RF data link upgrade packages on Raven tactical UASs. The two-year deal …

• Air Warfare

  Frontline requirements spur demand for Switchblade

  18th May 2020

  AeroVironment reported on 15 May that it has been awarded a new Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) contract from the US Army, with deliveries …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment unveils Quantix Recon

  24th April 2020

  AeroVironment on 23 April launched a military variant of its Quantix crop-surveying UAV. Quantix Recon is a fully-automated hybrid VTOL UAS, designed to deliver high-resolution …

• Air Warfare

  Australia selects SUAS+ while TUAV contenders prepare bids

  7th May 2020

  The Australian Army has two important UAV projects under way at present. The Small UAS ‘Plus’ (SUAS+) project has recently selected a winning platform, while …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment announces new Raven order

  5th November 2019

  AeroVironment has received a contract from an unnamed existing Southeast Asian military customer for additional Raven UAS, the company announced on 4 November. The $6.4 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment steps up European unmanned chase

  4th November 2019

  Manufacturer AeroVironment is particularly optimistic about the prospects of future sales of its multipurpose and proven UAS platforms to European countries, including Ukraine – with …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUSA 2019: AeroVironment takes punt on Puma LE

  14th October 2019

  Manufacturer AeroVironment has unveiled a new addition to its sUAS collection, the Puma LE, a hand-launched platform designed for ISR missions across land and sea. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  HAWK30 takes flight

  17th September 2019

  The HAWK30 solar high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) UAS undertook its first flight on September 11, 2019 at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, AeroVironment …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment donates Quantix systems for agricultural research

  23rd August 2019

  AeroVironment has launched a project aimed at advancing academic research into crop production practices to improve the future of farming through the use of UAVs …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  US Army acquires Raven UAV for security forces assistance brigades

  20th August 2019

  AeroVironment has received a $45.2 million contract to provide the RQ-11B Raven UAV for the United States Army’s Security Force Assistance Brigades (SFAB). The award …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Puma slinks quietly into Australia

  13th August 2019

  An RQ-20B Puma AE took part in a live-fire demonstration of the US-operated High Mobility Artillery Rocket System in the recently conducted Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019.  This …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment acquires Pulse Aerospace

  14th June 2019

  AeroVironment announced on 11 June that it has acquired Pulse Aerospace, a developer and supplier of small VTOL UAS. Pulse Aerospace had recently been awarded …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Quantix Recon (Ukraine)

  Programme Background April Meeting In mid-April, just shy of two months after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, the Ambassador and the Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Ukraine met ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (Uzbekistan)

  Programme Background Original FMS ContractOn 27 January 2022, the US DoD announced AeroVironment had been awarded an $8.54 million firm-fixed-price contract for an unknown quantity of ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS) [US Army]

  Programme Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide "an ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Blackwing (Second Batch) [USA]

  Programme BackgroundFirst Batch The Blackwing originated from a 2013 initiative to develop a low-cost submarine-launched UAS for the US Navy. Following successful tests with the ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Blackwing (First Batch) [USA]

  Programme Background AeroVironment developed the Blackwing system as part of a 2013 US Navy and US Pacific Command (PACOM) sponsored Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) (Contracted) [US Army]

  Programme Background First Contract In June 2011, the US awarded AeroVironment a $4.9 series-production contract for the loitering munition, satisfying the US Army's Lethal Miniature ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE (Estonia)

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Vector / Scorpion [Netherlands]

  Programme Background AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven B The Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) operates approximately 75 AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven B mini UAVs in the tactical ISTAR role, ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 [France]

  Programme Background Plans to Purchase At Eurosatory 2022, Col. Arnaud Goujon, the French Army's chief of plans, told the media that the French Army was ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 [USSOCOM]

  Programme Background Contract One AeroVironment confirmed in an April 2021 statement that it had been awarded a $26 million contract from the United States Special Operations ...

• Loitering munitions

  Organic Precision Fire - Light (OPF-L) [USMC]

  Programme Background Force Design 2030 The USMC Force Design 2030 is a modernisation effort to create a lighter, more agile maritime force. In May 2022, an annual ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Switchblade 300 (USA)

  Programme Background AeroVironment has been providing the Switchblade 300 loitering munition to the US Army under the long-standing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) programme ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing

  Switchblade 300 (UK)

  Programme Background ContextAeroVironment has been providing the Switchblade 300 loitering munition to the US Army under the long-standing Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) programme ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Medium Range/Medium Endurance (MR/ME) [USMC]

  Programme Background Force Design 2030 The USMC Force Design 2030 is a modernisation effort to create a lighter, more agile maritime force. The update to ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  P550

  Designed by AeroVironment, the P550 is a fixed-wing UAV that can host reconnaissance, EW or offensive payloads. It was developed with Parry Labs and features Modular Open Systems ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE

  The Puma 2 All Environment (AE), or RQ-20B in US nomenclature, is the second generation of AeroVironment's small UAS. The Puma 2 AE is sometimes called ...

• Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

  VAPOR 55 MX

  AeroVironment's VAPOR 55 MX is an all-electric rotary-wing small UAV. It features a modular architecture that users can configure to support various mission requirements.  For example, ...

• EO/IR systems

  Mantis i23

  AeroVironment’s Mantis i23 is a lightweight, compact EO/IR gimbal sensor suite, designed for its fleet of RQ-11B Raven UAS. The Mantis i23 is water-resistant and ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Quantix Recon

  Quantix Recon is a fully autonomous reconnaissance and mapping UAS manufactured by AeroVironment. These capabilities are provided by the platform's 18MP RGB and Militpsectral camera, which ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - tactical

  Jump 20

  The Jump 20 is a VTOL-capable variant of the T-20 platform manufactured by Arcturus UAV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AeroVironment. The platform has an open ...

• Launchers

  Multipack Launcher (MPL)

  AeroVironment’s Multi Pack Launcher (MPL) is an all-weather remotely operated autonomous launch battery for standard Switchblade and Blackwing systems. The six-round capacity MPL can also be ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - HALE

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• EO/IR systems

  Mantis i45

  AeroVironment’s Mantis i45 EO/IR gimbal sensor suite is designed for the AeroVironment Puma AE small UAS, providing it with additional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE

  The Puma 3 All Environment (AE), or RQ-20 in US nomenclature, is the third generation of AeroVironment's small UAS.  The UAS is designed for reconnaissance and ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE

  The Puma Long Endurance (LE) is a mini UAS manufactured by AeroVironment. The UAS has AeroVironment’s Mantis i45 gimbaled payload featuring EO/IR cameras and an NVG-visible ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300

  The Switchblade 300 is a man-portable, tube-launched loitering munition manufactured by AeroVironment. The platform is rapidly deployable by one operator from either a self-contained ground launcher ...

• Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

  Snipe Nano

  The Snipe Nano was a micro rotary-wing UAV developed by AeroVironment. Designed to give dismounted troops an immediate "over the wall, down the alley [and] around the hill" ISR ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

  Puma AE

  The Puma All Environment (AE), or RQ-20A in US terminology, is the first generation of AeroVironment's small UAS. Succeeded by the Puma 2 AE, which the ...

• Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - mini

  Blackwing

  Manufactured by AeroVironment and based on the Switchblade loitering munition, the Blackwing is a tube-launched UAV designed to deliver rapid ISR capabilities through its EO/IR ...