The US Marine Corps has awarded Teledyne FLIR Defense a $42.5-million contract to supply over 600 Rogue 1 loitering munition systems for its Organic Precision Fires–Light (OPF-L) program.
The delivery package includes ground control stations and training kits, with fielding scheduled to begin this summer.
An initial $12-million award for 127 Rogue 1 systems has already been completed by the company to support testing and evaluation.
“While Teledyne provides a broad range of unmanned air, ground, and subsea systems, this award represents our first production rate contract in the loitering munition market, following the initial test and evaluation contract in 2024,” Teledyne Technologies President and CEO George Bobb said.
Organic Precision Fires-Light Program
The OPF-L program is designed to equip rifle squads and platoons with a man-portable, loitering, beyond-line-of-sight precision strike capability that outranges direct fire weapons while minimizing collateral damage and exposure to enemy fire.
Teledyne, along with AeroVironment and Anduril, is competing for a potential $249-million, five-year production contract for the program.
AeroVironment is offering the Switchblade 300 Block 20, while Anduril is competing with its Bolt-M system.
Rogue 1 and Bolt-M have been purpose-built for OPF-L, while the Switchblade 300 Block 20 includes significant upgrades over the baseline Switchblade 300, such as enhanced armor penetration, improved attack angles, extended battery life and flight endurance, and a longer-range radio link.
Rogue 1
The vertical takeoff and landing Rogue 1 supports modular, mission-specific payloads with lethal effects tailored to different target types, including explosively formed penetrators, forward-fragmenting payloads, and non-lethal trainer payloads.
It incorporates an advanced fuzing system that allows the aircraft to be safely recovered and reused when targets are disengaged or missions are aborted, reducing the physical load on Marines while improving overall tactical flexibility.
Rogue 1 also features advanced electro-optical sensors and FLIR Boson 640+ thermal cameras for day/night long-range reconnaissance and surveillance. A novel coupling between the sensors and the warhead in the gimballed payload enables highly precise targeting.
“The accuracy and modularity of the Rogue 1 platform will enhance Marine lethality against whatever threats they may encounter in future conflicts,” Teledyne FLIR Defense President JihFen Lei said.
“We’re honored to support the OPF-L program and will continue to work with the Marine Corps to quickly field technology innovations they need to win on the battlefield.”
