AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) has been awarded a $117.3 million US Army production contract for 82 P550 electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) uncrewed aircraft, the Arlington-based defense company said Monday, marking the first full-rate procurement of the Group 2 platform under the service's Long Range Reconnaissance program.
82 P550s For Battalion Reconnaissance
The award was issued through a Basic Ordering Agreement under the Army's competitive Call for Solutions inside its UAS Marketplace initiative, the centralised procurement engine Army acquisition leaders have been leaning on to move commercial drones into the force faster. AV will deliver the systems to the Army's Battalion Reconnaissance effort, giving maneuver units organic long-range ISR and precision-strike capability.
Five Hours Endurance, 15 lb Payload, Five-Minute Reconfig
An autonomous Group 2 eVTOL, the P550 carries a multi-sensor payload of up to 15 pounds — including 'enhanced lethality' options — with up to five hours of all-battery endurance. Its modular open systems approach lets operators bolt on third-party payloads, datalinks and mission software, and hot-swap payloads and batteries in under five minutes without tools. 'In today's battlespace, adaptability is no longer an advantage, it's a requirement,' said AV chair and CEO Wahid Nawabi.
The UAS Marketplace Keeps Paying Out
The P550 order piles onto a run of AV wins as Army Drone Dominance ramps: a $400M Locust counter-UAS production contract earlier this month and an $80.5M Titan MS task order for Air Force base defense. It also lands as the DHS $1.5B counter-UAS IDIQ begins ordering.
Reporting based on coverage from AeroVironment and Businesswire.