AeroVironment delivers first P550 UAV to US Army

AeroVironment announced delivery of the first P550 UAV to the US Army on 20 August. The aircraft will be sent to an undisclosed TiC unit. (AeroVironment)

AeroVironment announced delivery of the first P550 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to the US Army on 20 August. The service purchased an undisclosed number of P550s to fulfil its Long-Range Reconnaissance (LRR) UAV requirement.

The first P550 and remainder under contract are to be operated by an undisclosed Transformation in Contact (TiC) brigade. TiC units – several brigades have been designated as such – are the first to receive many new UAVs, experimenting with them before adoption by conventional army units (or discarding them if found insufficient to meet their needs).

The P550, unveiled in 2024 but flying since 2023, was designed with the LRR contest in mind. The battery-powered, vertical take-off and landing UAV has an endurance of up to 5 h (or a 40 km range) and can carry up to 15 lb (6.8 kg) of payload, for which the P550 can provide between 100 and 200 W of power. Although primarily intended as a reconnaissance platform, the P550 has test-dropped small munitions and could carry mortar shells.

The LRR contest, decided in favour of AeroVironment and competitor Edge Autonomy (with its Stalker UAV), complements the Medium-Range and Short-Range Reconnaissance programmes, intended to introduce small UAVs into every army combat unit.

For more information, please see AUSA 2024: AeroVironment unveils P550 Group 2 UAV .