The U.S. Army awarded AeroVironment a $17.58 million contract on March 12 for Red Dragon, a one-way attack unmanned aircraft system (UAS) capable of striking targets more than 248 miles away without GPS or continuous operator guidance, and the Pentagon has not publicly said how much lethal autonomy soldiers will be permitted to give it.
The contract covers Red Dragon unmanned aircraft, launchers, ground control stations, battery chargers, spare parts, training materials, and field service representative support, the Pentagon announced March 21. A completion date of April 8 suggests delivery within weeks of the award.
AeroVironment describes Red Dragon as an “optional man-in-the-loop” system. The 45-pound, electrically powered platform navigates without satellite signals using onboard autonomy and digital scene matching.
Red Dragon doesn’t wait for orders.
It hunts in silence. No GPS. Comms denied. No escape.
This is battlefield autonomy—on our terms.
https://t.co/7lA4JBUzNw
#FearTheDragon #AV #AllDomainDominance pic.twitter.com/jYMDCWdkp2— AV (@aerovironment) May 6, 2025
Its SPOTR-Edge perception system detects and classifies targets in GPS-denied and communications-degraded environments. Range exceeds 248 miles. Setup time is under 10 minutes, with a launch rate of up to five drones per minute.
U.S. Army to Field Red Dragon Autonomous Drone Capable of 400 km Strikes Without GPS@USArmy @aerovironment @nytimes @WSJ @washingtonpost @USATODAY @latimes @Bloomberg @BBCWorld @NBCNews @CBS @Reuters https://t.co/Gkx5l8sx7n
— Army Recognition (@ArmyRecognition) March 24, 2026
Defense officials have stated that a human should remain “on the loop” for lethal decisions, but no public guidance addresses how that requirement applies to Red Dragon’s autonomous navigation and target-classification functions once communications are degraded.
The award comes as the Pentagon scales procurement under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Drone Dominance initiative.
Correct. The Pentagon will establish DRONE DOMINANCE. pic.twitter.com/jqmLKp7Dum
— Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) February 20, 2026
On February 28, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the first American combat use of one-way attack drones after Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) drones, built by SpektreWorks, flew strikes during Operation Epic Fury against Iran.
CENTCOM’s Task Force Scorpion Strike – for the first time in history – is using one-way attack drones in combat during Operation Epic Fury. These low-cost drones, modeled after Iran’s Shahed drones, are now delivering American-made retribution. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/VYdjiECKDT
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 28, 2026
The same March 21 Pentagon announcement included a $117.3 million Army contract for AeroVironment’s P550 long-range reconnaissance UAS, pairing a sensor layer with Red Dragon’s strike reach at the battalion level.
