US Army Buys AeroVironment’s ‘Switchblade’ Lethal Miniature Missile System

Unmanned systems maker, AeroVironment has received contracts from the US Army for procurement of the company’s Switchblade Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) and Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) that bring the total value of Switchblade awards to $111,054,202 since August 2017.

The contract awards were funded through Urgent Need Statements and include the first Switchblade order from the United States Marine Corps. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal will manage the contracts, for which $78,095,737 has been funded.

Hardware deliveries under initial awards began in December 2017 and are expected to continue through September 2018.The total value of Switchblade CLS awards is $43,290,816, covering three years of services.

“Switchblade delivers unmatched force protection and precision strike capabilities to American forces with minimal to no collateral effects,” said Kirk Flittie, AeroVironment vice president and general manager of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment, an AeroVironment release said.

Deployed by United States forces for more than five years, the AeroVironment Switchblade provides warfighters with rapid-response force protection and precision strike capabilities up to 10 kilometers from its launch location.

Its high precision, combined with specialized effects and wave-off capability, means Switchblade can minimize or even eliminate collateral damage. The upgraded Block 10C Switchblade incorporates additional enhancements based on feedback from users.

Orbital ATK provides single purpose and multimode warheads for the Switchblade program