Huntsville, AL-based AeroVironment, Inc. said it was selected to provide the U.S. Army with its Next Generation C-UAS Missile.
The company, a leading provider of Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems and advanced air and missile defense technologies, was also awarded at nearly $96 million contract for the Army’s Long-Range Kinetic Interceptor (LRKI) program through the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (CCDC AvMC) Aviation & Missile Technology Consortium (AMTC). As part of the contract, AV will manufacture and deliver the Freedom Eagle 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,” 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 neutralizing Group 2 and 3 UAS while maintaining capability against Group 1 UAS, fixed wing, and rotary wing aircraft, the company said. The FE-1 has increased lethality, extended range and rapid launch capabilities and has already achieved several key development milestones, including a successful live-fire demonstration, controlled test vehicle launches and warhead tests.
“FE-1 is more than just a missile. It’s a transformative capability for next-generation air and missile defense,” Daniel Noland, senior director of strategic capture for AV, said. “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.”