The U.S. Army has halted a contract with AeroVironment for Switchblade loitering munitions worth nearly $990 million due to a protest by a second company. The protest decision is expected by Dec. 16, and the protesting company has not been publicly identified. AeroVironment was awarded the sole-source contract on Aug. 27 to provide organic stand-off capability to infantry formations. A research note by William Blair analysts suggests that the original contract winner usually retains 95 percent of protests. The contract serves the Army’s LUS requirement under the LASSO program to supply loitering munitions to infantry brigade combat teams.
Switchblades are utilized by units like the LUS platoon in the 101st Airborne’s second brigade and the Multi-Functional Reconnaissance Company. The U.S. has sent Switchblade systems to Ukraine, including the larger Switchblade 600 designed to destroy hardened targets. The Defense Department announced in May an accelerated fielding of the Switchblade 600 to U.S. troops through the Replicator program, aiming to deploy thousands of affordable autonomous systems by August 2025. This system offers additional capability to U.S. forces and has been proven successful in Ukraine.
