AeroVironment has been awarded a one-year, $22.8 million contract to produce loitering aerial munitions for the U.S. Army in an effort to help warfighters conduct precision strike missions. The company said Monday it will provide Block 10C Switchblade lethal miniature aerial missile systems and support services under the contract with the Army’s Close Combat Weapons Systems Project Office. The Army procured the […] More

The U.S. Navy has demonstrated the communication, control and command functions of a small AeroVironment-built unmanned aircraft vehicle at the service branch’s Annual Naval Technology Exercise. AeroVironment said Wednesday its Blackwing UAV worked to connect with a swarm of unmanned undersea vehicles and communicated with a manned submarine’s combat control system during the ANTX event. The drone used a government-owned digital data link to transfer […] More

AeroVironment has partnered with Australian companies XTEK, Sentient Vision and General Dynamics‘ Mediaware subsidiary to bring AeroVironment’s line of unmanned aircraft systems to the Australia. The California-based small UAS provider said Monday the team looks to sell the AeroVironment Wasp AE or RQ-12A micro air vehicle to Australia’s armed forces. Wasp AE systems consist of two air vehicles and one ground control system and feature AeroVironment’s […] More

The U.S. Navy has tested and deployed an AeroVironment-developed small unmanned aircraft with a precision recovery system the service branch envisions for use on a wide variety of vessels for rapid response reconnaissance operations. AeroVironment said Thursday the RQ-20B Puma AE system was tested aboard a Flight I guided missile destroyer along with its precision recovery system that can be managed and […] More

Inmarsat has provided communications support to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-led team in efforts to break a channel of Antarctic sea ice to help ships deliver supplies to a U.S. research center located on Ross Island. Operation Deep Freeze 2016 used the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star to create a “superhighway” that will allow oil tankers and cargo ships to resupply fuel and food items to the […] More

A Defense Department organization is examining the potential use of an AeroVironment-built tethered unmanned aircraft system to facilitate intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and security operations. AeroVironment developed the Tether Eye UAS as part of the company’s contract with DoD’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, the company said Monday. CTTSO operates under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict. “Having the […] More

The U.S. Navy has selected an AeroVironment-built unmanned aircraft system for deployment from submarines to operate in anti-access and aerial denial environments. AeroVironment built Blackwing for a joint capability technology demonstration sponsored by the Navy and U.S. Special Operations Command known as Advanced Weapons Enhanced by Submarine UAS against Mobile targets, AeroVironment said Monday. Kirk Flittie, vice president and general manager for AeroVironment’s […] More

AeroVironment, SmartC2 and NASA have forged a partnership to perform a second phase of field tests on the space agency’s unmanned traffic management technology in October. AeroVironment said Thursday researchers will assess the Puma AE’s onboard autopilot three-dimensional geo-fencing functions, backup data link command-and-control and ADS-B integration into NASA’s UTM research platform. SmartC2 will deploy its VirtualAirBoss aviation business […] More

AeroVironment will display its new electro-optical/infrared gimbal payload for small unmanned aircraft systems at the annual Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International XPONENTIAL conference Monday through Thursday in New Orleans. Mantis i45 is used on the Puma all-environment unmanned aerial vehicle for commercial and military applications and features a suite of sensors such as EO and IR imagers, dual-color cameras, an illuminator and an […] More

AeroVironment has integrated an encrypted communication link to into the company’s fielded Switchblade tactical missile systems through an upgrade named Block 10C. The company said Thursday the Digital Data Link will work to help the system use frequency bands and minimize signal interception to support secure communications for warfighters. Block 10C is also designed to extend operational ranges through other DDL arbiters including AeroVironment’s […] More

AeroVironment has received a contract from ADS to deploy its unmanned aircraft system to Antarctica in support of the U.S. Coast Guard‘s resupply mission for the National Science Foundation‘s McMurdo Station. The company worked with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to launch the RQ-20A Puma AE drone from Australia on Dec. 30, 2015, under […] More

AeroVironment will provide approximately $13 million in RQ-20A Puma AE small unmanned aircraft systems and spares to the U.S. Marine Corps under a firm-fixed-price order from ADS Inc. The order is part of the Defense Logistics Agency‘s Tailored Logistics Support program and has a 12-month delivery period, AeroVironment said Wednesday. The company noted that Puma AE will serve as the long-range […] More