U.S. Army taps AeroVironment’s Switchblade 400 for LASSO loitering munition program
The U.S. Army has awarded AeroVironment a prototype deal for its new Switchblade 400 loitering munition. The agreement supports rapid development, delivery and testing of the latest Switchblade variant for the service’s Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance program.
LASSO is aimed at giving mobile brigade combat teams more organic precision-strike firepower. Army budget documents say those units lack adequate proportional capabilities to quickly destroy tanks, light armored vehicles, hardened positions, defilade targets and personnel while limiting collateral damage in complex terrain and all weather conditions.
The system is described as a lightweight, man-portable, day-and-night unmanned anti-tank weapon made up of an all-up round and a fire-control system. The Army wants enough endurance for soldiers to orbit inside a typical infantry brigade combat team battlespace, acquire targets and strike beyond the reach of crew-served weapons and small arms.
AeroVironment unveiled the Switchblade 400 last fall. The company says the drone can destroy moving tanks and armored vehicles at ranges of up to 65 kilometers, or about 40 miles, using electro-optical and infrared sensors, aided target recognition and edge computing to detect and classify targets day or night during a 35-minute mission.
The all-up round weighs 39 pounds, fits common launch tubes and can loiter at up to 70 miles per hour or sprint at up to 90 miles per hour. AeroVironment says the Switchblade 400 is the first purpose-built loitering munition to operate with its HALO command-and-control technology, enabling a single soldier to detect, identify and engage targets through a unified networked architecture.
The Army is seeking about $110 million for LASSO procurement in fiscal 2027 and plans to spend nearly $1.2 billion on the effort from fiscal 2026 through fiscal 2031. AeroVironment did not disclose the value of the new agreement, but the award signals a faster U.S. push to field precise, soldier-portable loitering weapons for front-line units.