One-way attack drone swarm has been used on the battlefield, AeroVironment CEO says
NewsMay 06, 2025
TAMPA, Florida. A one-way attack drone swarm capability developed by AeroVironment has been used on the battlefield, the company's CEO revealed during a media briefing at SOF Week 2025 on Tuesday.
AeroVironment describes Red Dragon as a "fully autonomous capable, software-defined, unmanned aircraft system (UAS) designed for one-way attack missions in high-threat, GPS-denied and communications-degraded environments." It is a small drone that can be launched in swarms while carrying a payload on a one-way journey toward a target. The company says it can cover distances of up to 200 kilometers and carry up to 10 kilograms. The drone has a wingspan of just under 12 feet and a length of 6.6 feet. About four or five can be launched per minute.
Wahid Nawabi, president and chief executive officer at AeroVironment, told reporters that the system has been "battle tested" with "hundreds, close to 1,000 different flights." While declining to specify where or against which adversary the system has been deployed, company officials claimed that Red Dragon has been tested "against the most relevant current, heaviest jamming environment you can imagine" in "real world" operational deployments.
The drone features anti-jamming capabilities, with multiple navigation systems to function in environments where GPS is unavailable or compromised, officials claim. The navigation system integrates data from disparate sensors, air speed sensors, laser range finders, and optical flow from the cameras. The drone is designed for simplicity and mass production, with the company saying that there are fewer than 150 unique components to ease manufacturing and sourcing challenges.
"The idea here is to build these in and deliver them by the tens of thousands," Nawabi said. "That's why it's designed for cost, designed for simplicity, designed for ease of operations."
