HUNTSVILLE — AeroVironment, a Huntsville-based provider of Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems and advanced air and missile defense technologies, has been selected to deliver the Army’s Next-Generation C-UAS Missile.
Along with this selection, AV was awarded a $95.9 million contract for the Army’s Long-Range Kinetic Interceptor program through the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center Aviation & Missile Technology Consortium, according to a news release.
As part of the LRKI program, AV will manufacture and deliver its Freedom Eagle (FE-1) kinetic C-UAS missile.
“FE-1 strengthens our nation’s air defense arsenal by providing an urgently needed kinetic C-UAS solution–built to fill the gaps in today’s defense capabilities and meet the adversarial threats of tomorrow,” said Jimmy Jenkins, executive vice president of AV’s Precision Strike and Defense Systems Group. “This selection by the U.S. Army is a testament to AV’s intentional investments, unmatched agility and technical expertise, and unwavering commitment to our nation’s national security priorities.
“We are quickly scaling production to deliver FE-1 to the frontlines, where they’ll provide critical warfighter protection and inform our development for full-rate manufacturing.”
FE-1 is a low-cost, high-performance solution to neutralize Groups 2 and 3 UAS while maintaining residual capability against Group 1 UAS, fixed wing, and rotary wing aircraft with increased lethality, extended range, and rapid launch capabilities, the news release said.
The program has achieved several key development milestones, including a successful live-fire demonstration of its dual-thrust solid rocket motor, controlled test vehicle launches, and warhead tests, the company said. These achievements demonstrate FE-1’s technological maturity and reduced technical risk in preparation for field deployment.
“FE-1 is more than just a missile. It’s a transformative capability for next-generation air and missile defense,” said Daniel Noland, senior director of Strategic Capture for AV. “Our team–side by side with our industry partners and U.S. Army customers–has put in long hours in the lab and on the range because they believed in the mission: to rapidly develop the technology our warfighters need to tackle our nation’s toughest aerial threats.
“We’re ready to transition this disruptive technology from research and development to the battlefield and focused on ramping up manufacturing to deliver with scale and speed.”
To deliver an entirely new kinetic platform built to counter rapidly evolving air threats on a rapid timeline, AV said it developed critical strategic partnerships and assembled a team of industry experts – including Applied Systems Engineering Inc., a provider of engineering and avionics solutions.
FE-1 joins AV’s portfolio of industry-leading C-UAS solutions, including directed energy, radio frequency-based, and electronic warfare systems.
The company is also a provider of precision strike and loitering munitions, including Switchblade and JUMP 20 which have proven success in austere battlespaces around the world.
Together, the company said, these capabilities form an end-to-end, multi-domain defense architecture designed to address the most advanced UAS threats.
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