AeroVironment (AV) has been awarded a production contract under the Army’s Company-Level Directed Requirement program, with the VAPOR® Compact Long Endurance (CLE) selected to support the service’s Medium Range Reconnaissance initiative as part of its Tranche 2 small uncrewed aircraft system procurement. The all-electric VTOL platform is engineered for demanding environments — from Arctic terrain to contested maritime conditions — and can deploy from case to flight in as little as two minutes, carrying up to 24 pounds of payload and delivering up to two hours of endurance. The contract underscores AV’s position as a supplier of rapidly deployable, operationally relevant unmanned systems to Brigade Combat Teams.
