AeroVironment recently received an Air Force order for its Switchblade loitering and munition systems and services, according to a Feb. 15 company statement.
The $4.2 million extension to an existing contract includes engineering services, operational Switchblade systems and operator training, according to a statement. AeroVironment will work with ATK [ATK], its munitions contractor, to produce and deliver the systems.
AeroVironment also performed a successful series of live-fire demonstrations for multiple U.S. government customers at a military facility in December, according to a statement.
The Switchblade loitering munition system launches from a small tube that can be carried in a backpack or installed on vehicles and transmits live color and infrared video wirelessly for display on AeroVironment’s standard small unmanned aircraft system (UAS) ground control unit, according to a statement. Once the launcher is set up, at the press of a button, the air vehicle shoots out of the tube, its wings spring open and its propeller kicks in, company spokesman Steven Gitlin told Defense Daily Friday in a phone interview.
Upon confirming the target using the live video feed, the system operator then sends a command to the air vehicle to arm its payload and lock its trajectory onto its target, according to a statement. The operator can also call off a strike even after the Switchblade system is armed.
Gitlin said the Switchblade uses the same universal ground control system that the company used for Raven, Puma, Wasp and Shrike vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UASs.
Gitlin also said this is the second contract AeroVironment has announced that is in actual operational units.
“We’re still in the early stages of production, still providing engineering services,” he said.