UAS VISION
an independent online news service for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems world
– AeroVironment, Inc., a leading global provider of loitering munition systems, announced the expansion of its combat-proven Switchblade family of precision loitering munitions with three new systems: the Switchblade 600 Block 2, the Switchblade 400, and the Switchblade 300 Block 20 equipped with a modular explosively formed penetrator (EFP) payload. Continue reading
– Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos’ stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft. Multiple manned and unmanned aircraft are being eyed as potential platforms for employing Lumberjack, which is already being tested in surface-launched modes and will have the ability to drop its own smaller precision munitions. Continue reading
– Mistral Inc., a provider of advanced defense solutions, together with Uvision Inc. (formerly known as UVision USA), announced that the U.S. Army awarded a multi-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract valued at $982,000,000 for the Lethal Unmanned System (LUS) program to procure, field, train, and sustain the HERO 120 loitering munition system. Continue reading
Raytheon, an RTX business, has been awarded a $5.04 billion cost-plus-fixed-fee contract by the U.S. Army to supply components for the Coyote Missile System. Continue reading
Lithuanian drone innovator Granta Autonomy has unveiled its new X-WING loitering munition system. The X-WING combines the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) of a quadcopter with the efficient, fixed-wing flight of an airplane, giving it a range of up to 50km. Continue reading
– General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. and AeroVironment collaborated on the air launch of a Switchblade 600 loitering munition (LM) from a GA-ASI Block 5 MQ-9A unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The flight testing took place from July 22-24 at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds Test Range. Continue reading
– Kratos has confirmed it is working together with Taiwan’s National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) on a derivative of its jet-powered MQM-178 Firejet target drone called the Chien Feng IV. The Chien Feng IV is said to be eyed primarily as a lower-cost, longer-range kamikaze drone, and NCSIST is reportedly looking toward potential export opportunities along with sales to the Taiwanese military. Continue reading
The Düsseldorf-based defense company Rheinmetall is currently working on a drone equipped with an air-to-air missile for self-defense and three loitering munitions. The company exhibited a model of the system at the Drone Days 2025 exhibition, held by b.r.m. IT & Aerospace GmbH from August 27 to 29 at Oldenburg-Hatten Airfield. Continue reading