AeroVironment wins $990 million stand-off contract with the US DoD

AeroVironment Inc has been awarded a US$990 million US Department of Defense (DoD) contract to provide an organic stand-off capability for dismounted infantry formations.

AeroVironment is a manufacturer of uncrewed aerial systems based in Virginia, and the DoD contract announcement specified that the award was for systems “capable of destroying tanks, light armoured vehicles, hardened targets, defilade and personnel targets”.

While no specifics about the deliverable systems were given in the contract, Shephard analysts suggested it could ultimately be a loitering munition, possibly an FPV-style system. That conclusion was based on the popularity of such systems already created by AeroVironment, including the Switchblade 300 and the Switchblade 600.

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Similarly, the DoD announcement gave no breakdown on numbers of units to be provided, but according to US Army FY2023 budget estimate documents, the Switchblade Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) Switchblade had a flyaway unit cost of $52,914, or $53,000, and a gross cost of $68,200.

On that basis, the $990 million contract could deliver around 14,516 drones, each with a stand-off destructive capability intended to boost the performance of the US Army in conflict situations.

The AeroVironment Switchblade 300 is a man-portable, tube-launched loitering munition already much used by US Army troops, and increasingly used in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of 2022. The Switchblade 600 has four times the range and can engage with non-line-of-sight armoured targets. It too is used by the US Army and by Ukraine, although Lithuania has also invested in the munition since 2022. The requirements of the DoD contract suggested it was looking for something more similar to the Switchblade 600 in this instance, with its insistence on viability against armoured targets.

The contract, awarded in 2024, came with an estimated completion date of August 2029. That being the case, Shephard analysts estimate the US Army could start seeing the first fruits of the contract by 2026.

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