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

Uncrewed Vehicles

AeroVironment in line to provide Wasp for Bangladesh

14th October 2020

Bangladesh would be the first Southeast Asian nation to operate the mini-UAV

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 …

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

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 …

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 ...

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 - 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 ...

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 ...