“FE-1 strengthens our nation’s air defense arsenal by providing an urgently needed kinetic C-UAS solution–built to fill the gaps in today’s defense capabilities and meet the adversarial threats of tomorrow,” said Jimmy Jenkins, Executive Vice President of AV’s Precision Strike and Defense Systems Group. He added, “This selection by the U.S. Army is a testament to AV’s intentional investments, unmatched agility and technical expertise, and unwavering commitment to our nation’s national security priorities. We are quickly scaling production to deliver FE-1 to the frontlines, where they’ll provide critical warfighter protection and inform our development for full-rate manufacturing.”
The FE-1 missile is designed to counter Groups 2 and 3 UAS while retaining effectiveness against Group 1 drones, fixed-wing, and rotary-wing aircraft. It features enhanced lethality, extended range, and rapid launch capabilities, and has successfully completed several development milestones including live-fire rocket motor testing, controlled test vehicle launches, and warhead evaluations.
“FE-1 is more than just a missile. It’s a transformative capability for next-generation air and missile defense,” said Daniel Noland, Senior Director of Strategic Capture for AV. “Our team–side by side with our industry partners and U.S. Army customers–has put in long hours in the lab and on the range because they believed in the mission: to rapidly develop the technology our warfighters need to tackle our nation’s toughest aerial threats. We’re ready to transition this disruptive technology from research and development to the battlefield and focused on ramping up manufacturing to deliver with scale and speed.”
To meet the urgent timeline for deployment, AeroVironment partnered with industry leaders including Applied Systems Engineering Inc., known for its engineering and avionics expertise. The FE-1 adds to AV’s broader C-UAS offering, which includes Directed Energy, Radio Frequency, and Electronic Warfare systems.
The company is also recognised for its precision strike and loitering munitions, such as Switchblade and JUMP 20, which have demonstrated operational effectiveness in austere environments worldwide. These integrated capabilities form a comprehensive, multi-domain defence architecture to counter evolving unmanned aerial threats.
