US Army Awards AV Prototype Deal for Switchblade 400 Under LASSO Program
The US Army has selected AV’s Switchblade 400 loitering munition to support the service’s Low-Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program.
The prototype agreement, the amount of which is undisclosed, covers the rapid development, delivery, and testing of the medium-range and man-portable drones that the company has dubbed a “Lightweight Tank Destroyer.”
Under the LASSO effort, the Switchblade 400 is intended to equip the army’s mobile brigade combat teams with solutions that deliver precision strikes with minimal collateral damage while remaining effective in complex terrain and in all conditions.
This selection follows the army’s $186-million order of Switchblade 600 Block 2 and Switchblade 300 Block 20 explosively formed penetrator loitering munition systems in February, part of a contract awarded in August 2024.
With these, AV is being positioned “as a long-term partner to the Army as it modernizes its loitering munition capabilities, from development and testing through production, fielding, and continuous capability evolution,” said Trace Stevenson, President of Autonomous Systems at AV.
In January, the army also chose UVision’s HERO-90 for the LASSO program.
Switchblade 400
Part of AV’s Switchblade family, the Switchblade 400 is the first in the series to operate within the AV Halo modular command-and-control ecosystem introduced in September 2025.
Unveiled in the fall of 2025, the loitering munition fits common launch tubes and comes with advanced, aided target recognition and autonomous capabilities to detect, classify, and engage targets in day or night conditions and in denied and contested environments.
It is “the product of continuous feedback from the field and the soldiers who rely on our systems in real-world operations,” according to senior VP of Loitering Munitions at AV, Brian Young.
The Switchblade 400 was built with a modular open systems approach to enable seamless upgrades and features a 39-pound (18-kilogram) all-up round.
Able to fly at up to 70 miles (113 kilometers) per hour and remain airborne for about 35 minutes, the drone is built to be effective at engaging tanks and armored vehicles at ranges up to 65 kilometers (40 miles).
