US Army buys $1B worth of Switchblade kamikaze drones

To enhance its capabilities in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the U.S. Army awarded Virginia-based AeroVironment (AV) a contract to supply Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS). The 5-year contract from the Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground is an indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract with a ceiling value of $990 million. Deliveries of the ordered Switchblade systems are expected to begin in a few months.

The LUS Directed Requirement is the Army’s first effort to equip infantry battalion soldiers with portable, lethal loitering munitions systems.

The combat-proven Switchblade systems will enhance soldiers’ capabilities through precise flight control, increased lethality against fortified targets such as armored vehicles and tanks, and the ability to track and engage mobile targets beyond line of sight. AV was awarded a contract for the LUS Directed Requirement in December 2023 and is currently delivering systems under this contract. Brett Hush, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Loitering Munition Systems at AV, stated that AV is proud to have been selected to provide Switchblade for this critical and urgent Army need.

This contract underscores the maturity and effectiveness of the Switchblade system, as well as AV’s strategic positioning to rapidly produce and deliver these cutting-edge solutions to field operators.

Extended Range Drone Switchblade represents the next generation of extended-range loitering munition systems, offering field operators a multi-mission loitering munitions system capable of multi-domain operations. The battle-tested system also features high-precision optics and extended hover endurance. AV can rely on field feedback, with the drone present in Ukraine, and has significant production capacity.

Switchblade, which represents the new (industrialized) generation of extended-range loitering munitions, is equipped with high-precision optics, over 40 minutes of loitering endurance, and an anti-armor warhead to engage larger, reinforced targets at greater distances.

As an all-in-one, portable solution, Switchblade includes everything needed to plan and execute missions successfully and can be set up and operational in less than 10 minutes.

Equipped with state-of-the-art high-resolution EO/IR gimbal sensors and advanced precision flight control, the Switchblade allows operators rapid and easy deployment through tube launch and the ability to fly, track, and engage off-line of sight targets and armored vehicles with lethal precision effects without the need for ISR or external firing means.

The patented capability to interrupt and re-engage allows operators to abort the mission at any time, and then, on operator command, to re-engage the same target or other targets multiple times. Whether for fixed defensive positions, combat vehicles with integrated organic precision fire, or air-launched applications, the Switchblade 600 provides field commanders a multi-mission loitering munitions system capable of multi-domain operations.

Today, the Switchblade is presented as being able to travel approximately 30 kilometers at an average speed of 140 kilometers per hour, weighing 15 kilograms, and 30 kilograms with the entire launch, transport, and control system. Thus, the Switchblade represents a tactical ensemble that upgrades the U.S. Army in the face of combat techniques developed during the war in Ukraine, which marks the return of high-intensity, high-budget warfare.