Army orders 'kamikaze drones'

AeroVironment has been awarded a $22.8 million contract for loitering munitions, popularly — if inaccurately — known as "kamikaze drones."

Under the Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems (LMAMS) contract with the Army's Close Combat Weapons Systems Project Office, AeroVironment will provide Block 10C Switchblade loitering munitions.

A cross between a drone and an artillery shell, camera-equipped LMAMS are launched by an infantry squad to circle an area before diving onto a target.

Already tested in Afghanistan, the Switchblade "provides warfighters with force protection and precision strike capabilities up to 10 kilometers from its launch location, with minimal to no collateral damage and wave-off capability," according to an AeroVironment news release. "Block 10C Switchblade, introduced by AeroVironment in May 2016, incorporates improvements based on feedback from users, including encrypted digital communications."

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