Overview
- AeroVironment, which announced MAYHEM 10 on Wednesday at the Army aviation summit in Nashville, plans low-rate production this year.
- Launched effects are small expendable drones fired from a host platform to push sensing and strikes farther from the crew.
- The new system carries up to 10 pounds, flies about 100 kilometers for roughly 50 minutes, and can launch in under five minutes from air, ground, or maritime platforms.
- A swappable payload supports ISR, electronic warfare, communications relay, or a precision strike, and AV says it can accept a Javelin anti-armor warhead.
- AV touts AI-driven autonomy and secure links for jamming-heavy fights, with swarm features from Applied Intuition set for first flight tests in late summer.