News & Articles

SPACEPORT AMERICA, N.M. - HAPSMobile Inc., a subsidiary of Japan’s telecommunications operator SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) has chosen New Mexico’s Spaceport America for test operations and development of a specialized communications platform designed to provide internet connectivity to hard-to-reach places around the globe, Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced today.

The company, along with its minority owner and aircraft development partner AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), is working on development of the unmannedsolar-powered High Altitude Platform Station. The stratospheric telecommunicationsplatform, a so-called cell-tower in the sky, is designed to provide better communications tounder-served areas, including rural communities.

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• Three-year base contract includes option for an additional two years of logistical support, spares and repair services for existing fleet of Raven, Wasp and Puma tactical unmanned aircraft systems
• AeroVironment’s family of tactical UAS allows customers to use the same ground control station and software for multiple UAS for added simplicity and efficiency
• AeroVironment UAS enabling interoperability across several NATO forces

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., June 10, 2020 – AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), today announced its receipt of two firm-fixed-price orders totaling $9,804,448 from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The orders, received on March 5, 2020 and April 16, 2020, encompass the procurement of Raven® and Puma™3 AE tactical UAS and spares. Delivery for the first order is anticipated by August 2020 and the second order by October 2020.

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The designer and manufacturer of the Raven, one of the most widespread UAVs of the fixed wing hand launched category, AeroVironment portfolio also includes the lighter Wasp and the heavier Puma, while the most recent adds-on are the Vapor rotorcraft UAVs, available in two models. In late April 2020 the California-based company unveiled a hybrid reconnaissance system, the Quantix Recon, capable of vertical take-off and landing and flying horizontally exploiting the lift provided by its wings while the four rotors/propellers provide the necessary thrust.

Its first international appearance would have been at Eurosatory 2020, but this will not be the case, so here are some details on the last product from AeroVironment.

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SIMI VALLEY, Calif.– AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), today announced that Wahid Nawabi, president and chief executive officer, Kevin McDonnell, senior vice president and chief financial officer, and Steven Gitlin, chief marketing officer and vice president of investor relations, will participate in a virtual fireside chat at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference on Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 7:20 a.m. PT / 10:20 a.m. ET.

A live audio webcast of the fireside chat will be available in the Events and Presentations section of the AeroVironment website at https://investor.avinc.com/events-and-presentations. A replay of the webcast will be available for 90 days.

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SIMI VALLEY, Calif.– AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), today announced the promotion of Ken Karklin, Senior Vice President, to the role of chief operating officer, effective immediately.  “Ken has demonstrated his ability to lead key functions within our organization and, on behalf of our Board of Directors and executive team, we congratulate him on his new role as chief Operating Officer,” said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to his ongoing contributions to supporting our customers’ success, maintaining our market leadership and driving growth across our business. With the support of Ken and our talented team, we continue to execute our strategy effectively, with a focus on producing long-term value for our stockholders.”

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• AeroVironment’s combat proven Switchblade with patented wave-off feature provides operators with increased lethality, reach and precision strike capabilities with low collateral effects
• First year of funding approved through Joint Urgent Operational Need Statement, reflecting high-priority requirement and strong user demand from the frontline
• AeroVironment provides full system solution, including Switchblade systems, operator training, support and logistics

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., at vSOFIC, May 14, 2020 – AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), announced the receipt of a one-year, $75,930,901 funded contract award on April 30, 2020 from the United States Army for procurement of the company’s Switchblade® loitering missile system. The contract award was funded for the first year of procurement through a Joint Urgent Operational Need Statement from the United States Army Tactical Aviation and Ground Munitions (TAGM) project office. Start of deliveries is anticipated by September 2020. Two additional one-year options, currently unfunded, would extend the period of performance through April 2023 on a sole-source basis.

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• Contract includes spares to support customer’s existing fleet of tactical unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and adoption of Puma LE (Long Endurance) 
• Puma LE provides Group 2 features in a Group 1 footprint, 5.5-hour endurance and persistent data with increased time on station in an economical two-case mission packout
• Customer is one of more than 45 allied governments employing AeroVironment’s innovative family of tactical UAS

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., at vSOFIC, May 12, 2020 – AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), today announced that a U.S. ally and longtime customer awarded the company a firm-fixed-price contract valued at $2,685,057 on February 20, 2020 for AeroVironment’s recently introduced Puma™ LE. The order also included spares to support the customer’s existing fleet of AeroVironment tactical UAS. The contract award period of performance is one year.

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Their job is to test and operate drones for possible use by the Royal Navy.

And 700X Naval Air Squadron have been working hard over the past few months to trial unmanned equipment and its suitability for future operations. Based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, 700X has taken to the sea in the latest step of its pioneering adventure into remotely-piloted air systems. They headed out for a week of trials on board the fishery protection ship HMS Mersey. 700X commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Justin Matthews said it was a hugely exciting time to be at the cutting-edge of UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology.

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The helicopter developed in Simi Valley by AeroVironment Inc. that will be aboard the next Mars Rover has a name – Ingenuity.

The name was announced Wednesday by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who chose it from a submission by Alabama high school student Vaneeza Rupani.

“Ingenuity encapsulates the values that our helicopter tech demo will showcase for everyone when it takes off next year as the first aircraft on another planet’s surface,” Bridenstine said in a statement. “It took a lot of hard and ingenious work to get the helicopter ready and then placed on the rover, and there’s a lot more going to be required.”

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Attention toward technology often favors the big, shiny and super-equipped. This may be especially true for military UAS, where airline-sized RQ-4 Global Hawks, heavily-armed Reapers and other frontline fliers attract the spotlight.

But say you have an intel team operating in remote areas when you need high resolution, up-to-date maps and don’t have an internet connection? Or when that team is working independent of a large base and needs to conduct bomb damage assessment without revealing its position? And what if the operators don’t have all that much UAS experience in the first place?

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