Protest stalls Army $990M loitering munitions contract

WASHINGTON — A US Army contract award to AeroVironment for $990 million-worth of Switchblade loitering munitions is on pause following a protest filed by Mistral Inc.

The protest, which was revealed by AeroVironment in an SEC filling earlier this week, has resulted in the Army filing a stop work order, meaning that production on the order has to halt while the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviews the case and makes a ruling. According to a GAO docket, the protest was filed Sept. 6. Defense One first reported on the filling.

The GAO is expected to rule by Dec. 16, per the filling. If the GAO denies the protest, work will continue as expected; if it sustains the protest, it could force the Army to re-open a competition for the program, formally the directed requirement for Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS), which was awarded on Aug. 28.

AeroVironment has had a successful run of contracts with Switchblade, which comes in two variants, over the last calendar year. In Oct. 2023, the Army announced it was buying a small tranche of the Switchblade 600. Then in May, the program made headlines when it became the first publicly announced winner of a contract from the Replicator program, while the weapon has also seen action in Ukraine.

Days after the Replicator announcement AeroVironment CEO Wahid Nawabi told Breaking Defense that the company is expanding production given the expected growth demand.

Although not a household name, the Bethesda, Md.,-based Mistral has won at least one contract from DoD this year: a May 17 order from US Special Operations Command with a maximum value of $73.5 million for its GOLAM II loitering munitions.

A spokesperson for AeroVironment could not be immediately reached. Voicemails left at Mistral’s office and a note sent via its website were not returned by press time.