AeroVironment bags USSOCOM contract for Switchblade 600 missile systems

AeroVironment, a provider of multi-domain robotic systems, has revealed bagging a firm-fixed-price contract worth $20.32 million from the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) for the procurement of Switchblade 600 tactical missile systems (TMS).

According to the American defense contractor, delivery of the missile systems is slated to be wrapped up by January 2023.

The company’s tactical missile systems offer users the ability to detect threats and deliver a precision lethal payload with very less collateral damage.

Brett Hush — AeroVironment vice president and TMS product line general manager said: “Switchblade 600 is an all-in-one, man-portable tactical missile that provides warfighters with the capability to fly, track and engage non-line-of-sight targets and light-armored vehicles with precision lethal effects.

“The tube-launched, Switchblade 600 can be easily transported for deployment from fixed and mobile platforms in any environment, providing operators with superior force overmatch and minimizing exposure to direct and indirect enemy fires.”

AeroVironment bags USSOCOM contract for Switchblade 600 tactical missile systems. Photo courtesy of AeroVironment, Inc.

AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600 is said to be an all-in-one, man portable solution. It is equipped with an electro-optical/infra-re (EO/IR) gimbaled sensor suite, precision flight control.

The Switchblade 600 tactical missile systems are said to offer more than 40 minutes of flight time for unparalleled strategic reconnaissance, surveillance as well as target acquisition (RSTA).

The anti-armor warhead of the Switchblade 600 tactical missile systems is designed to facilitate engagement as well as prosecution of moving and hardened static light armored vehicles from various angles, without the need for external intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) or firing assets.

Switchblade 600’s wave-off and recommit capability are said to enable operators to stop an operation at any point and then engage the same target or another multiple times, based on commands, resulting in little or no collateral injury.