News & Articles

Building on AeroVironment’s tactical missile legacy, the Switchblade 300 Block 20 offers enhanced operational features and performance

ARLINGTON, Va., March 28, 2023 – AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) today unveiled the newest version of its Switchblade® 300 rapidly deployable loitering missile system. The Switchblade 300 Block 20 builds on Block 10C’s battle-proven performance with new operational features and significant performance and capability improvements.

Switchblade 300 Block 20 is portable, lightweight, and easy to operate, requiring only a single operator. The new tablet-based Fire Control System allows operators to easily train, plan, and execute missions. Operation of the system is further simplified by offering an integrated control directly onto the launcher tube.

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• AeroVironment is the only company to secure an award for all FTUAS program increments, including FTUAS Increments 0,1 and now 2
• Increment 2 is the final phase of the U.S. Army’s FTUAS program competition to select a replacement for the RQ-7B Shadow UAS 

ARLINGTON, Va., March 1, 2023 – AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in intelligent, multi-domain robotic systems, today announced it was selected by the United States Army on Feb. 28, 2023, to move forward in the Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) program.

AeroVironment’s JUMP® 20 will compete with several other vendors in the FTUAS Increment 2 multi-phased effort which will allow the Army to select the best system for its needs. Ultimately, FTUAS Increment 2 aircraft will be fielded to Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs) throughout the Army, replacing the long-serving RQ-7B Shadow UAS.

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The latest U.S. security assistance package to Ukraine shows a commitment to enhanced drones, with four new types specifically mentioned:

— The Jump 20 UAS is an unusual vertical take-off tactical reconnaissance machine from AeroVironment, Inc. With an endurance of 14 hours and a range of over a hundred miles , the Jump-20 is perhaps nearest to Russia’s Orlan-10, a machine which is much derided for its crude construction but gives Russia an envied long-endurance observation platform. The more sophisticated Jump-20 will provide intelligence for HIMARS and the new Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb and other long-range weapons as Ukraine hits targets further behind the front line.

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One evening northwest of Fury’s position, in an industrial plant that Ukraine’s military is using as a base for elite units to sleep in, Biker explained how the Switchblade 300, which can be carried in a backpack, works.

It launches from a tube. Its small wings and an electric propeller then unfold. It flies to a target monitored via a tablet and special software. Then it dive-bombs kamikaze-like to its prey and detonates an explosive warhead.

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In this Q&A with Philip Mahill, senior director, Medium UAS Business Development for AeroVironment, he discusses: the regional threat scenario, the latest news on the Army’s Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (FTUAS) program, and the reasons why the company’s JUMP 20 VTOL unmanned system is suited to US needs in the FTUAS program and also UAE/Middle East needs to meet their specific threat scenarios.

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Even before the now-famous Ingenuity helicopter made its first flight on Mars in 2021, Ben Pipenberg and his colleagues at drone maker AeroVironment began thinking about the next iteration of the aircraft whose airframe and rotor system they built. Knowing about the plan to bring samples of Mars back to Earth, they conceptualized and prototyped a helo with a gripper capable of grasping sample tubes and wheels to carefully roll up to an ascent vehicle.

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CEO Wahid Nawabi visits Mad Money and discuss the benefits of Switchblade loitering missile systems and how they can help with the war in Ukraine.

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Continued operation in RF environments — whether that’s GPS denial or communications disruption — is arguably the number-one requirement for overmatch against near peers.

Though the Indo-Pacific region and Europe present widely divergent areas of operation, one of the characteristics they assuredly have in common is that both kinetic and non-kinetic operations against adversaries in those regions will take place in contested environments.

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The small and precise weapons are part of a US military aid package delivered to help Ukraine fight back amid Russia’s invasion.

A so-called kamikaze drone, that dive-bombs its target, is being built at a secret facility in Ventura County. The small and precise weapons are part of a US military aid package delivered to help Ukraine fight back amid Russia’s invasion, which started 8 months ago.

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