U.S. drone maker AEVEX picks up another kamikaze drone deal

AEVEX Corp. has won $20.5 million in new U.S. government contracts to build and develop one-way attack drones, the company announced September 9.

AEVEX did not name the government agency behind the awards or specify which of its drone models are covered. The work includes delivering the aircraft themselves along with engineering, development and integration support, and the resulting systems will be used both in combat-ready units and for training, according to the company.

“AEVEX customers continue to rely on our ability to design, build, and deliver autonomous capabilities with precision, reliability, and speed,” said Roger Wells, CEO of AEVEX. “Our one-way attack systems are informed by real-world operational demands and built to perform in contested and dynamic mission environments. We are proud to deliver affordable, scalable capabilities that strengthen warfighter effectiveness and meet the pace required by today’s operational tempo.”

One-way attack drones, also called loitering munitions, are unmanned aircraft that fly to a target and detonate on impact rather than returning to base, combining elements of a cruise missile with a small aircraft. AEVEX’s product line in this category traces back to the Phoenix Ghost program, which the U.S. Air Force accelerated in April 2022 to rush drones to Ukraine. The company has since expanded that family to include models such as the Disruptor, a Group 3 drone weighing under 1,320 kg (2,910 pounds) with a service ceiling of 18,000 feet, as well as the Dagger and Dominator systems.

This is the third publicly disclosed U.S. government award AEVEX has landed for one-way attack systems in 2026. The U.S. Air Force awarded the company $18.5 million in May for a Group 3 tactical drone, and the government awarded AEVEX $41 million in August for additional one-way attack systems, an order industry analysis firm Shephard Media’s Defence Insight estimated would cover more than 300 aircraft. Defence Insight has calculated that AEVEX has received $1.29 billion of the $6.58 billion the U.S. has spent on loitering munitions to date, or about 19.5% of that market.

AEVEX also builds the Atlas Precision Strike System, a smaller Group 2 drone the U.S. Army selected as the first platform fielded under its Launched Effects-Short Range program in October 2025. The company manufactures its drones across facilities in Alabama, California, Florida, Ohio and Virginia, and has said it relies on additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, to speed production.