The Army has awarded AeroVironment a prototype agreement to develop and field its Switchblade 400 loitering munition as part of the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program, the company announced today.

Switchblade 400, a medium-range, portable loitering munition, is meant to fulfill the Army’s modernization priorities of rapidly deployable, precision-strike capabilities that can operate in contested environments, according to an AV press release.

The Switchblade 400, which was unveiled last October at the Association of the United States Army’s annual conference, features aided target recognition and autonomy in detecting, classifying and engaging targets in denied and contested environments. The Switchblade 400 is meant to be a lightweight, portable antitank weapon system with an all-up-round weighing less than 40 pounds, according to AV.

Since entering a $990 million indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract with AV in 2024, the Army has purchased multiple variants of the Switchblade system, which included a $186 million delivery order for the Switchblade 300 and 600 systems in February.

“Being selected under the LASSO program positions AV as a long-term partner to the Army as it modernizes its loitering munition capabilities, from development and testing through production, fielding, and continuous capability evolution,” Trace Stevenson, AV’s president of autonomous systems, said today.

The Army started the LASSO program nearly three years ago to rapidly field antitank uncrewed aircraft systems to dismounted infantry, not long after the service announced its directed requirement for lethal unmanned systems. The service plans to spend $109.5 million to procure 53 fire control units and 430 all-up rounds in fiscal year 2027 to support that directed requirement, according to budget justification documents.

-- With research support from Real Time Defense