• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment and Kratos team up

  10th May 2019

  AeroVironment and Kratos Defense & Security Systems have teamed up to develop and demonstrate highly integrated and operationally effective multi-domain UAS for peer/near-peer environments. The …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  First HAWK30 solar HAPS assembled

  30th April 2019

  AeroVironment has completed assembly of the first HAWK30 solar-powered, high-altitude pseudo-satellite (HAPS) UAS for its HAPSMobile joint venture with SoftBank, the company announced on 25 …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment introduces 360 MSA for Puma AE

  8th April 2019

  AeroVironment has introduced a new 360 multi-sector antenna (MSA) for its Puma AE small unmanned aircraft system (UAS), the company announced on 3 April. Specifically …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment receives FMS contract for Puma AE

  5th April 2019

  AeroVironment has received a $17.4 million contract to provide its Puma AE II small UAS, training and support to an allied nation, the company announced …

• Defence Helicopter

  IDEX 2019: Middle Eastern nations strengthen air advantage (video)

  11th February 2019

  The order of 16 F-16 Block 70s aircraft and delivery of the first five MD 530F Cayuse Warrior helicopters in 2018 strengthened the respective air …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Silvus radios to support Aerovel’s FTUAS bid

  21st January 2019

  Silvus Technologies’ StreamCaster (SC4200) radios have been selected by Aerovel for its Flexrotor UAS in pursuit of the US Army Family of Tactical UAS (FTUAS) …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment receives RQ-20B Puma AE II contract

  12th November 2018

  AeroVironment has received a $3.2 million contract to provide the RQ-20B Puma AE II UAS, training and support to an allied nation in the US …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment receives order for Raven UAS

  9th October 2018

  AeroVironment has received a $13 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract from the US Air Force for RQ-11B Raven UAS to support Latin American and Caribbean …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Poland examines new UAS possibilities

  15th October 2018

  AeroVironment (AV) is looking to make inroads in Poland as it held a series of demonstration flights of its small unmanned aerial systems in early …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Raven UAS for Portuguese Army

  19th September 2018

  AeroVironment has received a $5.9 million contract to deliver RQ-11B Raven UAS equipped with Mantis i23 sensors and pocket Remote Video Terminals to the Portuguese Army. …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AeroVironment selected to compete for UAS support

  12th July 2018

  AeroVironment is among seven suppliers selected by the US Army to compete for small UAS sustainment task orders under a five-year indefinite delivery indefinite quantity …

• Special Operations

  SOFIC 2018: AeroVironment receives Switchblade for USMC

  22nd May 2018

  The US Army has awarded AeroVironment a procurement contract for its Switchblade Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS). At SOFIC 2018, the company announced that …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Black Hornets create buzz in Australia

  29th May 2018

  The Australian Army marked the onset of ‘widespread proliferation’ of the FLIR Systems Black Hornet 3 micro-UAV on 23 May, as the programme progressed from …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  Germany acquires Puma UAS

  9th May 2018

  The German Navy has acquired AeroVironment’s Puma UAS with Mantis i45 sensor, AeroVironment announced on 7 May. AeroVironment partnered with Germany's ESG to fulfill the …

• Uncrewed Vehicles

  AUVSI 2018: Flexibility is key for tactical UAS

  3rd May 2018

  As militaries become more accustomed to the current operational practices involving tactical UAS platforms, the demand placed on industry by these services to provide increased …

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 ...