Uncrewed Vehicles

Northrop reveals details of offer for DARPA ANCILLARY VTOL UAS programme

14th July 2023

Northrop Grumman will design an autonomous VTOL aircraft system for DARPA, capable of operating from navy ships at sea. The ANCILLARY program aims to enhance long endurance and expeditionary capabilities.

Uncrewed Vehicles

SOF Week 2023: AeroVironment introduces VTOL kit for Puma AE UAS (video)

11th May 2023

AeroVironment has introduced the Puma VTOL kit, designed for plug-and-play integration into Puma 2 AE and Puma 3 AE small uncrewed aircraft systems.

Air Warfare

AeroVironment unveils Puma VTOL kit for small UAS

10th May 2023

The VTOL kit allows the Puma 2AE and Puma 3AE UAS to operate in a wider range of terrains.

Air Warfare

Rheinmetall and AeroVironment team up for NATO special forces project

9th February 2023

The duo believe they are a perfect match to meet the requirement for a small special forces UAS.

Uncrewed Vehicles

Lithuania acquires Switchblade 600

27th December 2022

The country announced a €45 million ($48 million) agreement with the US Government for the purchase of Switchblade 600 unmanned weapon systems.

Digital Battlespace

infiniDome unveils latest iteration of anti-jamming technology for drones

24th October 2022

Israeli company infiniDome has released a new anti-jamming system for GPS-guided platforms. GPSdome 2 is a small-form-factor device intended for use on small/medium UAS and loitering munitions.

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 ...

Military UAS - fixed-wing, Military UAS - small

RQ-20B Puma (USMC)

Programme BackgroundThe Puma 3 AE, called the RQ-20B Puma in US nomenclature, is widely used throughout the US Armed Forces. On 14 June 2022, AeroVironment released a ...

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 - mini

RQ-11 Raven (US Army)

Programme Background The AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven began to be deployed by the US Army in 2004 and was selected as its sole small UAS in ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 - 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 ...

Military UAS - rotary-wing, Military UAS - small

VAPOR 55

The VAPOR 55 is an all-electric rotary-wing small UAV. Pulse Aerospace initially manufactured it before AeroVironment purchased the company in 2019.  Powered by a high energy-density lithium-polymer ...

Military UAS - micro, Military UAS - rotary-wing

Shrike

The Shrike was a micro, portable, rugged VTOL-capable UAV designed for frontline day/night ISR.  Development of the Shrike began in 2008 under a $4.6-million contract from ...