AeroVironment, Inc. News
Latest AeroVironment, Inc. news, funding rounds and robotics & AI coverage. 20 articles tracked by The Robotics Media.
About AeroVironment, Inc.
AeroVironment, Inc. is an American defense technology company that designs, develops, and manufactures unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), loitering munitions, counter-drone and directed-energy weapons, unmanned ground vehicles, and related software and space systems for the U.S. military and allied governments. It was founded in 1971 by aeronautical engineer Paul MacCready and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
The company's product lines include the hand-launched RQ-11 Raven and RQ-20 Puma small reconnaissance drones, the VTOL P550 long-range reconnaissance UAS, the JUMP 20 medium unmanned aircraft, and the Switchblade family of loitering munitions (300/600) used by the U.S. Army and Ukraine. In May 2025, AeroVironment completed its roughly $4.1 billion stock acquisition of BlueHalo, adding directed-energy laser weapons (the LOCUST line), space technology, and electronic warfare capabilities to its portfolio.
AeroVironment has been publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker AVAV since its January 2007 IPO. The company reported revenue of $820.6 million for fiscal year 2025 and employed roughly 3,750 people as of 2025, following significant growth after the BlueHalo acquisition.
Key facts
Products by AeroVironment, Inc.
- LOCUST X3 (Hardware, 2026) — A third-generation 20-30+ kW modular laser weapon system for countering Group 1-3 drones, acquired through the BlueHalo acquisition.
- Switchblade 600 (Drone, 2020) — A tube-launched loitering munition designed to defeat armored targets at extended range.
- RQ-20 Puma (Drone, 2008) — A hand-launched, catapult-capable small UAS used for reconnaissance and surveillance.
- RQ-11 Raven (Drone, 2002) — A hand-launched small reconnaissance drone widely fielded by the U.S. military since the early 2000s.
- JUMP 20 (Drone, 2021) — A runway-independent, vertical takeoff and landing medium UAS used for ISR missions.
- P550 (Drone, 2024) — An electric VTOL Class 2 drone for long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, unveiled in 2024.
Funding rounds
- IPO — amount undisclosed — 2007
Latest AeroVironment, Inc. news
- Neros Lands Up to $450 Million Pentagon Loan to Scale Drone Output 16-Fold — The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital has conditionally committed up to $450 million to help Neros scale its Torrance, California drone factory s...
- Boeing-Anduril Advance To Phase 2 Of Army's IFPC Mid-Range Interceptor Race — The US Army has picked Boeing-Anduril and Lockheed-AeroVironment for Phase 2 of the IFPC Increment 2 Second Interceptor competition, cutting Rafael.
- AeroVironment Books First-Ever US Laser Weapon Production Deal With $464.8M LOCUST X3 Award — The Army's Enduring-High Energy Laser program moves LOCUST X3 from prototype to sustained production, tapping AeroVironment for dozens of 30 kW counte...
- AeroVironment Books Record $1.5B Backlog As Q1 FY27 Revenue Hits $480.5M — AeroVironment opened fiscal 2027 with record first-quarter revenue of $480.5 million and a funded backlog of $1.5 billion, up 37% year over year, as a...
- AeroVironment Books First International LOCUST Laser Order For $50M+ — A landmark direct commercial sale — AeroVironment's first foreign purchase order for its LOCUST laser weapon system — arrives days after the US Army's...
- Palladyne AI Teams With NORDA Dynamics To Fuse SwarmOS And Ukraine-Proven Terminal Guidance — Palladyne AI and Ukrainian-Estonian drone specialist NORDA Dynamics are integrating SwarmOS with NORDA's combat-proven Underdog Autonomy Module to let...
- AeroVironment To Build UAS And Counter-Drone Plant In Greece Via AV Eagle JV — AeroVironment will manufacture unmanned aircraft, loitering munitions and counter-UAS systems in Greece through AV Eagle, a majority-owned joint ventu...
- Castelion Locks In $1B Series C At $13B To Mass-Produce Blackbeard Hypersonic Missiles — California defense-tech startup Castelion has raised a $1 billion Series C at a $13 billion valuation to scale production of its low-cost Blackbeard h...
- Pentagon Task Force To Field Counter-Drone Defenses At Top 46 U.S. Sites — JIATF-401 director David Bagnati says the Pentagon has begun procurement to add counter-UAS defenses at the top 46 U.S. installations on a global prio...
- AeroVironment Locks In $117M Army Order For 82 P550 Reconnaissance Drones — AeroVironment has been awarded a $117.3M US Army production contract for 82 P550 eVTOL uncrewed aircraft under the service's Long Range Reconnaissance...
- Pentagon backs Performance Drone Works with up to $820M loan for drone components — The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital has issued a conditional loan commitment of up to $820 million to Performance Drone Works to scale domestic...
- US Army commits $400M for AeroVironment Locust laser counter-drone production — The US Army has awarded AeroVironment at least $400 million for its Locust high-energy laser system, the Pentagon's first production contract for a di...
- Hadrian raises 1.37 billion dollar Series D at 7.87 billion valuation to scale defense factories — Torrance, California-based advanced manufacturing company Hadrian closed a 1.37 billion dollar Series D at a 7.87 billion valuation to expand its netw...
- HII Lands U.S. Navy Option Year For Lionfish Cyber-Compliant SUUV Build — The U.S. Navy exercised HII's option-year production contract for Lionfish, its next-gen small unmanned undersea vehicle based on REMUS 300, with a pr...
- AeroVironment Bags $117M U.S. Army Order For 82 P550 eVTOL Recon Drones — AeroVironment landed a $117.3M U.S. Army contract on July 20 for 82 P550 electric VTOL drones, the initial full-rate procurement for the Army's Long R...
- Pentagon Signs Multiyear FAMM Deals With Anduril, CoAspire And Zone 5 For Cheap Cruise Missiles — The Pentagon has signed multiyear production frameworks with Anduril, CoAspire and Zone 5 Technologies under the Family of Affordable Mass Missiles pr...
- Pentagon Awards AeroVironment $500M Layered Counter-Drone Contract Through 2029 — The U.S. Army awarded AeroVironment a $500 million firm-fixed-price contract on July 1, 2026 to supply layered counter-unmanned aerial systems over th...
- Maris-Tech Bags Repeat Defense Orders For Edge-AI Observation Payloads — Israeli defense electronics firm Maris-Tech has booked follow-on orders from an existing military customer for its edge-AI video and observation subsy...
- AeroVironment Books $80.5M Titan Task Order for Air Force Base Defense — AeroVironment landed the first purchase order under its $500M Domestic Shield IDIQ, an $80.5M buy of Titan MS counter-UAS systems for Air Force Global...
- Pentagon Awards AeroVironment $500M Counter-Drone Contract — The Pentagon awarded AeroVironment a $500 million, three-year contract for commercial counter-UAS technology, days after the LOCUST laser maker posted...