AUSA 2025: AV wins C-UAS missile contract
BlueHalo displayed the Freedom Eagle next-generation counter-unmanned aircraft system missile in April 2025 at the Sea Air Space conference. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)
AV, formed by the merger of AeroVironment and BlueHalo, won the sole contract for the next phase of Next-generation Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) missile (NGCM) earlier in 2025, the company announced at the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA's) annual conference on 13 October.
The company was awarded USD98 million as part of a downselect to move into the next phase of the âmultibillion dollarâ NGCM programme, said Trace Stevenson, president of autonomous systems at AV. Two companies were awarded an initial downselect for the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center Aviation & Missile Technology Consortium (CCDC AvMC) in 2024, but AV is the only company that received a contract for the next phase in 2025, he said.
âIt's the next-generation counter-UAS missile technology that addresses threats that exist today, that we currently cannot defeat with other than very, very expensive cruise missiles,â said Stevenson.
Conversations with the army have indicated that NGCM will be a âmultiservice missileâ that is designed for Group 3 UASs and above, Jonathan Moneymaker, CEO of BlueHalo at the time, told Janes in July 2024.
For more information, please see Feature: US land forces advance ground-based directed energy to counter âswarms' .
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