Aerovironment Inc (AVAV) SEC Filing 10-K Annual report for the fiscal year ending Tuesday, April 30, 2019

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

 

 

Commission file number 001‑33261

 

AEROVIRONMENT, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

 

None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well‑known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐    No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐    No ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒  No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S‑T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒  No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S‑K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10‑K or any amendment to this Form 10‑K. ☒

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer ☒                  Accelerated filer ☐Smaller reporting company ☐

 

Non-accelerated filer   ☐         Emerging growth company ☐

                                                              

                                                                                                  

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b‑2 of the Act). Yes ☐    No ☒

 

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non‑affiliates of the registrant, based on the closing price on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on October 28, 2018 was approximately $1,893.7 million.

 

As of June 19, 2019, the issuer had 23,942,558 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the conclusion of the registrant’s fiscal year ended April 30, 2019, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10‑K.

 

 

AEROVIRONMENT, INC.

INDEX TO FORM 10‑K

 

 

 

PART I

 

Forward‑Looking Statements

 

This Annual Report on Form 10‑K, or Annual Report, contains forward‑looking statements, which reflect our current views about future events and financial results. We have made these statements in reliance on the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act). Forward‑looking statements include our views on future financial results, financing sources, product development, capital requirements, market growth and the like, and are generally identified by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “targets,” “projects,” “predicts,” “contemplates,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans” and similar words. Forward‑looking statements are merely predictions and therefore inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors which could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward‑looking statement. These uncertainties and other factors include, among other things:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Set forth below in Item 1A, “Risk Factors” are additional significant uncertainties and other factors affecting forward‑looking statements. The reader should understand that the uncertainties and other factors identified in this Annual Report are not a comprehensive list of all the uncertainties and other factors that may affect forward‑looking

statements. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward‑looking statements or the list of uncertainties and other factors that could affect those statements.

 

Item 1.  Business.

 

Sale of EES Business Segment

 

On June 29, 2018, we completed the sale of substantially all of the assets and related liabilities of its efficient energy systems business segment (“the EES Business”) to Webasto Charging Systems, Inc. (“Webasto”) pursuant to an Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) between Webasto and AeroVironment.  As of April 30, 2018, we determined that the EES Business met the criterion for classification as an asset held for sale and represented a strategic shift in our operations. Therefore, the assets and liabilities and the results of operations of the EES Business are reported in this Annual Report as discontinued operations for all periods presented.

 

The disclosures and references in this Annual Report, including financial data, the description of our business operations in this Item 1, and risk factors related to our operations included in Item 1A relate to our continuing operations, unless otherwise specifically noted.

 

Overview

 

We design, develop, produce, support and operate a technologically‑advanced portfolio of products and services for government agencies and businesses. We supply unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”) and related services primarily to organizations within the U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) and to international allied governments, and tactical missile systems and related services to organizations within the U.S. Government. We derive the majority of our revenue from these business areas and we believe that the markets for these solutions have significant growth potential. Additionally, we believe that some of the innovative potential products and services in our research and development pipeline will emerge as new growth platforms in the future, creating additional market opportunities.

 

Our success with current products and services stems from our investment in research and development and our ability to invent and deliver advanced solutions, utilizing proprietary and commercially available technologies, to help our government and commercial customers operate more effectively and efficiently. We develop these highly innovative solutions by working very closely with our key customers to solve their most important challenges related to our areas of expertise. Our core technological capabilities, developed through more than 45 years of innovation, include robotics; sensor design, development, miniaturization and integration; embedded software and firmware; miniature, low power wireless digital communications; lightweight aerostructures; high-altitude systems design, integration and operations; machine vision, machine learning and autonomy; low SWaP (Size, Weight and Power) system design and integration; manned-unmanned teaming, unmanned-unmanned teaming; power electronics and electric propulsion systems; efficient electric power conversion, storage systems and high density energy packaging; controls and systems integration; vertical takeoff and landing flight, fixed wing flight and hybrid aircraft flight; image stabilization and target tracking; advanced flight control systems; fluid dynamics; robotic systems autonomy; human-machine interface development; and integrated mission solutions for austere environments.

 

Our business focuses primarily on the design, development, production, marketing, support and operation of innovative UAS and tactical missile systems and the delivery of UAS‑related services that provide situational awareness, remote sensing, multi‑band communications, force protection and other information and mission effects to increase the safety and effectiveness of our customers’ operations.

 

Our Strategy

 

As a technology solutions provider, our strategy is to grow our business by developing and acquiring innovative, safe and reliable new solutions that provide customers with valuable capabilities. Delivering these capabilities will enable us to create new markets or market segments, gain market share and grow as market adoption increases. We believe that by introducing new solutions that provide customers with compelling value we are able to create new markets or market segments and then grow our positions within those markets or market segments profitably, 

instead of entering established, existing markets and competing directly against large, incumbent competitors that may possess advantages in scope, scale, resources and relationships.

 

We intend to grow our business by preserving a leadership position in our core UAS and tactical missile systems markets, and by creating new solutions that enable us to create and establish leadership positions in new markets. Key components of this strategy include the following:

 

Grow existing markets and create new adjacent markets.  Our small UAS and tactical missile systems enjoy leading positions in their respective markets. We intend to increase the penetration of our small UAS products and services within the U.S. military, the military forces of allied nations, other government agencies and non‑government organizations, including commercial entities, and to increase the penetration of our tactical missile systems within the U.S. military and allied nations. We believe that the broad adoption of our small UAS by the U.S. military will continue to spur demand by allied nations, and that our efforts to pursue new applications are creating opportunities beyond the early adopter military market.

 

Deliver innovative new solutions into existing and new markets.  Customer‑focused innovation is the primary driver of our growth. We plan to continue pursuing internal and customer‑funded research and development to develop better, more capable products, services and business models, both in response to and in anticipation of emerging customer needs. In some cases, these innovations result in upgrades to existing offerings, expanding their value among existing customers and markets. In other cases, these innovations become entirely new solutions that position us to address new markets, customers and business opportunities. We believe focused research and development investments will allow us to deliver innovative new products and services that address market needs within and outside of our current target markets, and enable us to create new opportunities for growth. We view strategic partnerships as a means by which to further the reach of our innovative solutions through access to new markets, customers and complementary capabilities.

 

Foster our entrepreneurial culture and continue to attract, develop and retain highly‑skilled personnel.  Our company culture encourages innovation and entrepreneurialism, which helps to attract and retain highly‑skilled professionals. We intend to preserve this culture to encourage the development of the innovative, highly technical system solutions and business models that give us our competitive advantage. A core component of our culture is our intent to operate with trust and teamwork in all of our interactions, contributing to a positive work environment and engendering loyalty among our employees and customers.

 

Preserve our agility and flexibility.  We respond rapidly to evolving markets, solve complicated customer problems, and strive to deliver new products, services and capabilities quickly, efficiently and affordably relative to available alternatives. We believe our agility and flexibility help us to strengthen our relationships with customers and partners. We intend to maintain our agility and flexibility, which we believe to be important sources of differentiation when we compete against organizations with more extensive resources.

 

Effectively manage our growth portfolio for long‑term value creation.  Our production and development programs and services present numerous investment opportunities that we believe will deliver long‑term growth by providing our customers with valuable new capabilities. We evaluate each opportunity independently and within the context of other investment opportunities to determine its relative timing and potential, and thereby its priority. This process helps us to make informed decisions regarding potential growth capital requirements and supports our allocation of resources based on relative risks and returns to maximize long‑term value creation, which is a key element of our growth strategy. We also review our portfolio on a regular basis to determine if and when to narrow our focus on the highest potential growth opportunities.

 

Customers

 

We sell the majority of our UAS and services to organizations within the DoD, including the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Special Operations Command, Air Force and Navy, and allied governments. We sell our tactical missile systems to organizations within the U.S. government. We also develop High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (“HAPS”) systems for a commercial customer based in Japan.

 

During our fiscal year ended April 30, 2019, we generated approximately 28% of our revenue from the U.S. Army pursuant to orders placed under contract by the U.S. Army on behalf of itself as well as for several other organizations within the DoD. Other U.S. government agencies and government subcontractors accounted for 20% of our sales revenue, while purchases by foreign inclusive of foreign military sales made through the DoD, commercial and consumer customers accounted for the remaining 52% of sales revenue during our fiscal year ended April 30, 2019.

 

Technology, Research and Development

 

Technological Competence and Intellectual Property

 

Our company was founded by the late Dr. Paul B. MacCready, the former Chairman of our board of directors and an internationally renowned innovator who was instrumental in establishing our entrepreneurial and creative culture. This culture has consistently enabled us to attract and retain highly‑motivated, talented employees and has established our reputation as an innovative leader in the industries in which we compete.

 

The innovations developed by our company and our founder include, among others: the world’s first effective human‑powered and manned solar‑powered airplanes; the first modern passenger electric car, the EV1 prototype for General Motors; the world’s highest flying airplane in level flight, Helios™, a solar‑powered unmanned aircraft system that reached over 96,000 feet above sea level in 2001; Global Observer, the world’s first liquid hydrogen‑fueled unmanned aircraft system; the Nano Hummingbird™, the world’s first flapping wing unmanned aircraft system capable of precise hover and omni‑directional flight; and Blackwing™, the first submarine-launched unmanned aircraft system deployed by the U.S. Navy. The Smithsonian Institution possesses seven vehicles developed by our company or our founder in its permanent collection. Our history of innovation excellence is the result of our talented, creative and skilled employees whom we encourage to invent and develop innovative new solutions.

 

A component of our ongoing innovation is a screening process that helps our business managers identify early market needs, which assists us in making timely investments into critical technologies necessary to develop solutions to address these needs. Similarly, we manage new product and business concepts through a commercialization process that balances spending, resources, time and intellectual property considerations against market requirements and potential returns on investment. Strongly linking our technology and business development activities to customer needs in attractive growth markets constitutes an important element of this process. Through the process we revisit our customer requirement assumptions to evaluate continued investment and to help ensure that our products and services deliver high value.

As of April 30, 2019, we had issued and retained 179 U.S. patents, as well as 67 pending U.S. patent applications; 10 active Patent Cooperation Treaty applications; and numerous foreign patents and pending applications. In many cases, when appropriate and to preserve confidentiality, we opt to protect our intellectual property through trade secrets as opposed to filing for patent protection.

 

The U.S. government has licenses to some of our intellectual property that was specifically developed in performance of government contracts, and may use or authorize others to use this intellectual property. In some cases we fund the development of certain intellectual property to maximize its value and limit its use by potential competitors. While we consider the development and protection of our intellectual property to be integral to the future success of our business, at this time we do not believe that a loss or limitation of rights to any particular piece of our intellectual property would have a material adverse effect on our overall business.

 

Research, Development and Commercialization Projects

 

A core component of our business strategy is the focused development and commercialization of innovative solutions that we believe can become new products or services that enable us to create large new markets or accelerate the growth of our current products and services. We invest in an active pipeline of these commercialization projects that range in maturity from technology validation to early market adoption. We cannot predict when, if ever, we will successfully commercialize these projects, or the exact level of capital expenditures they could require, which could be substantial.

 

For the fiscal years ended April 30, 2019, 2018 and 2017, our internal research and development spending amounted to 11%, 10% and 12%, of our revenue, respectively, and customer‑funded research and development spending amounted to an additional 24%, 20% and 19%, of our revenue, respectively.

 

Sales and Marketing

 

Our marketing strategy is based on developing leadership positions in new markets that we create through the introduction of innovation solutions that improve customer operational effectiveness and efficiency. Our ability to operate in an agile, flexible manner helps us achieve first mover advantage and work closely with early customers to achieve the successful adoption of our solutions. Once we establish a market position we work to maintain our leadership while seeking to grow our revenue by expanding sales and through continuous innovation and customer support. Our reputation for innovation is a key component of our brand and has been acknowledged through a variety of awards and recognized in numerous articles in domestic and international publications. We have many U.S. registered trademarks including those for AeroVironment, AV, Switchblade, Raven, and Wasp, and have several pending applications for trademark registration.

 

International Sales

 

We contract with international sales representatives and team with domestic organizations in a number of foreign markets and believe that these markets represent growth opportunities for our business. Our international sales accounted for approximately 52%, 47% and 36%, of our revenue for the fiscal years ended April 30, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

 

Competition

 

We believe that the principal competitive factors in the markets for our products and services include product performance; safety; features; acquisition cost; lifetime operating cost, including maintenance and support; ease of use; rapid integration with existing equipment and processes; quality; reliability; customer support; and brand and reputation.

 

Manufacturing and Operations

 

We pursue a lean and efficient production strategy across our business, focusing on rapid prototyping, supply chain management, final assembly, integration, quality and final acceptance testing. Using concurrent engineering techniques within an integrated product team structure, we rapidly prototype design concepts and products, while working to optimize our designs to meet manufacturing requirements, mission capabilities and customer specifications. Within this framework we develop our products with feedback and input from manufacturing, quality, supply chain management, key suppliers, logistics personnel and customers. We incorporate this input into product designs in an effort to maximize the efficiency and quality of our products while minimizing time to market. As a result, we believe that we significantly reduce the time required to move a product from its design phase to full rate production deliveries while achieving high reliability, quality and yields.

 

We outsource certain production activities, such as the fabrication of certain aerostructures, the manufacture and assembly of electronic printed circuit boards, payload components, and the production of our Quantix drone, to qualified suppliers, with many of whom we have long-term relationships. This outsourcing enables us to focus on our core expertise of final assembly, system integration and test processes for our products, ensuring high levels of quality and reliability. We forge strong relationships with key suppliers based on their ability to grow with our production needs and support our growth plans. We continue to expand upon our suppliers’ expertise to improve our existing products and develop new solutions. We rely on both single and multiple suppliers for certain components and subassemblies. (See “Risk Factors—If critical components or raw materials used to manufacture our products become scarce or unavailable, then we may incur delays in manufacturing and delivery of our products, which could damage our business” for more information.) All of our production systems operate in accordance with our AS9001D registered Quality Management System (QMS), which is focused on continuous improvement in order to increase acceptance rates, reduce lead times and lower cost.

 

Customer Funded Research and Development

 

We actively pursue externally funded projects that help us to strengthen our technological capabilities. Our UAS business submits bids to large research customers such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Special Operations Command for projects that we believe have future commercial application. In some cases commercial enterprises may fund our research and development activities, as with our HAPSMobile Inc. development program. Providing these services contributes to the development and enhancement of our technical competencies. In an effort to manage the ability of our key technical personnel to support multiple, high‑value research and development initiatives, we attempt to limit the volume of customer funded research and development projects that we accept. This process enables us to focus these personnel on projects we believe offer the greatest current and future value to our business.

 

Seasonality

 

Historically our revenue in the second half of our fiscal years has exceeded our revenue in the first half of our fiscal years. Our revenue was balanced between the first and second halves of fiscal year 2019. The factors that affect our revenue recognition between accounting periods include the timing of new contract awards, the availability of U.S. government and international government funding, lead time to manufacture our family of systems to customer specification, customer acceptance and other regulatory requirements.

 

Raw Materials and Suppliers

 

Historically, we have not experienced significant delays in the supply or availability of our key raw materials or components provided by our suppliers, nor have we experienced a significant price increase for raw materials or components.  We do not anticipate any such delays or significant price increases in our fiscal year 2020.

 

Contract Mix

 

The table below shows our revenue for the periods indicated by contract type, including both government and commercial sales:

 

Employees

 

As of April 30, 2019, we had 699 full time employees, of whom 254 were in research and development and engineering, 36 were in sales and marketing, 244 were in operations and 165 were general and administrative personnel. We believe that we have a good relationship with our employees.

 

Backlog

 

Consistent with ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”), we define backlog as remaining unsatisfied performance obligations under firm orders for which work has not been performed. As of April 30, 2019 and 2018, our backlog was approximately $164.3 million and $164.4 million, respectively. We expect that approximately 92% of our backlog will be filled during our fiscal year ending April 30, 2020.

 

In addition to our backlog, we had unfunded backlog of  $45.2 million and $58.1 million as of April 30, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We define unfunded backlog as the total remaining potential order amounts under cost

reimbursable and fixed price contracts with (i) multiple one‑year options, and indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity, or IDIQ contracts, or (ii) incremental funding. Unfunded backlog does not obligate the customer to purchase goods or services. There can be no assurance that unfunded backlog will result in any orders in any particular period, if at all. Management believes that unfunded backlog does not provide a reliable measure of future estimated revenue under our contracts. Unfunded backlog does not include the remaining potential value associated with a U.S. Army IDIQ‑type contract for small UAS because that contract was awarded to seven companies in 2018, including AeroVironment, and we cannot be certain that we will receive all task orders issued against the contract.

 

Because of possible future changes in delivery schedules and/or cancellations of orders, backlog at any particular date is not necessarily representative of actual sales to be expected for any succeeding period, and actual sales for the year may not meet or exceed the backlog represented. Our backlog is typically subject to large variations from quarter to quarter as existing contracts expire, are renewed, or new contracts are awarded. A portion of our contracts, specifically our IDIQ contracts, do not obligate the U.S. government to purchase any goods or services. Additionally, all U.S. government contracts included in backlog, whether or not they are funded, may be terminated at the convenience of the U.S. government.

 

Other Information

 

AeroVironment, Inc. was originally incorporated in California in July 1971 and reincorporated in Delaware in 2006.

 

Our principal executive offices are located at 900 Innovators Way, Simi Valley, California 93065. Our telephone number is (805) 520‑8350. Our website home page is http://www.avinc.com. We make our website content available for information purposes only. It should not be relied upon for investment purposes, nor is it incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

 

We make our annual reports on Form 10‑K, quarterly reports on Form 10‑Q, current reports on Form 8‑K and proxy statements for our annual stockholders’ meetings, as well as any amendments to those reports, available free of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file that material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. You can learn more about us by reviewing our SEC filings. Our SEC reports can be accessed through the investor relations page of our web site at http://investor.avinc.com. The SEC also maintains a web site at www.sec.gov that contains our reports, proxy statements and other information regarding us.

 

Our Business

 

Our UAS business addresses the increasing economic and security value of network‑centric intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (“ISR”), communications, remote sensing and effects delivery with innovative UAS and tactical missile system solutions.

 

Industry Background

 

Small UAS

 

The defense market for small UAS has grown significantly since the early 2000s driven largely by the demands associated with the global threat environment and resulting procurement by military customers, the early adopters for this technology. Small UAS now represent an accepted and enduring capability for the military. The U.S. military’s transformation into a smaller, more agile force that operates via a network of observation, communication and precision targeting technologies accelerated following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as it required improved, distributed observation and targeting of enemy combatants who operate in small groups, often embedded in dense population centers or dispersed in remote locations, to operate effectively in a counterinsurgency threat environment. We believe that UAS, which range from large systems, such as Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk and General Atomics’ Predator,  Sky Warrior,  Reaper and Gray Eagle, to small systems, such as our Raven, Wasp AE, and Puma AE, serve as integral components of today’s military force. These systems provide critical observation and communications capabilities serving the increasing demand for actionable intelligence, while reducing risk to individual “warfighters.”

Small UAS can provide real‑time observation and communication capabilities to the small units who control them. As airspace regulations in the U.S. and other nations evolve to accommodate the commercial use of small UAS, significant growth in the number of entities developing small UAS solutions for markets such as precision agriculture is taking place.

 

Tactical Missile Systems

 

The development of weapons capable of rapid deployment and precision strike that also minimize the risk to surrounding civilians, property and operators has accelerated due to advances in enabling technologies. Weapons such as laser‑guided missiles, “smart” bombs and GPS‑guided artillery shells have dramatically improved the accuracy of strikes against hostile targets. When ground forces find themselves engaged in a firefight or near a hostile target, their ability to employ a precision weapon system quickly and easily can mean the difference between mission success and failure. A rapidly deployable solution could address emerging requirements beyond ground engagements for use in other types of missions and from a variety of sea, air and land platforms. We believe that embedding a precision lethal payload into a remotely controlled, man‑portable delivery system provides warfighters with a valuable and more cost‑effective alternative to existing munition and missile systems.

 

High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite, or HAPS, UAS

 

We believe a market opportunity exists for HAPS UAS that can fly for months at a time to provide continuous remote sensing and communications in an affordable manner over great distances. Existing solutions such as terrestrial cellular towers, communications satellites and manned and unmanned aircraft address some of the emerging demand for this capability, but do so at relatively high financial and resource costs. Next generation mobile telephony, referred to as 5G, can use higher frequencies than those currently employed by 4G and LTE networks.  These higher frequencies are not capable of traveling large distances as compared to the frequencies associated with existing networks.  As a result, 5G deployment requires the installation of a large number of base stations and cellular towers to complement existing infrastructure, resulting in a significant investment of time, resources and capital. Geosynchronous satellites provide fixed, continuous communications capabilities to large portions of the globe, but they operate more than 20,000 miles from the surface of the earth, therefore limiting the bandwidth they can provide, introducing latency in communications signals and requiring relatively larger, higher power ground stations. Remote sensing satellites typically operate at lower altitudes, but are unable to maintain geosynchronous positions, meaning they are moving with respect to the surface of the earth, resulting in a limited presence over specific areas of interest and significant periods of time during which they are not present over those areas. A new category of constellations consisting of a large number of very small and low earth orbiting satellites is proposed to provide a lower cost alternative with more ubiquitous coverage for reconnaissance and communication, but has yet to be deployed in meaningful quantities and may not be capable of providing the uninterrupted service and quality required by commercial mobile carriers.  High-altitude balloons carrying communication payloads are subject to wind direction and speed, and therefore may not be able to deliver the continuous, uninterrupted service and connection quality required by commercial mobile carriers. UAS that are capable of operating in an affordable manner for extended periods of time over an area of interest without gaps in availability while carrying a communications or observation payload could help to satisfy this need.

 

Our Solutions

 

We supply our UAS products and services to multiple customers within and outside of the United States.

 

Small UAS Products

 

Our small UAS, including Raven, Wasp AE, and Puma AE, are designed to operate reliably at very low altitudes in a wide range of environmental conditions, providing a vantage point from which to collect and deliver valuable information. Military forces employ our small UAS to deliver ISR and communications, including real‑time tactical reconnaissance, tracking, combat assessment and geographic data, directly to the small tactical unit or individual operator, thereby increasing flexibility in mission planning and execution. In commercial applications, we operate our small UAS as part of a turnkey information solution to deliver advanced analysis that can reduce customers’ costs, enhance their safety and increase their revenue. Our small UAS wirelessly transmit critical live video and other

information generated by their payload of electro‑optical, infrared or other sensors directly to a hand‑held ground control unit, enabling the operator to view and capture images, during the day or at night, on the control unit. Our Quantix data collection drone generates a volume of high-resolution data significantly larger than wireless bandwidth can accommodate, requiring the transfer of data once the air vehicle has landed. With the exception of Quantix, our ground control systems allow the operator to control the aircraft by programming it for GPS‑based autonomous navigation using operator‑designated way‑points, or by manual flight operation. The ground control systems are designed for durability and ease of use in harsh environments and incorporate a user‑friendly, intuitive user interface. All of our fixed wing small UAS currently in production for military customers operate from our common ground control system. Our Quantix system plots its own flight path and launches, flies and lands autonomously to complete its mission.

 

We designed our small UAS to be transportable by a single person, assembled without tools in less than five minutes and launched and operated by one or two people, with limited training required. The efficient and reliable electric motors used in all of our small UAS are powered by modular battery packs that can be replaced quickly, enabling rapid return to flight. We designed all of our small UAS to be reusable for hundreds of flights under normal operating circumstances and to be recovered through an autonomous landing feature that enables a controlled descent to a designated location.

 

In military applications, our small UAS provide forward aerial observation capabilities that enable tactical commanders to observe around the next corner, to the next intersection or past a ridgeline in real‑time. This information facilitates faster, safer movement through urban, rural and mountainous environments and can enable troops to be proactive based on field intelligence rather than reactive to attack. Moreover, by providing this information, our systems reduce the risk to warfighters and to the surrounding population by providing the ability to tailor the military response to the threat. U.S. military personnel regularly use our small UAS, such as Raven, for missions such as force protection, combat observation and damage assessment. These reusable systems are easy to transport, assemble and operate and are relatively quiet when flying at typical operational altitudes of 200 to 300 feet above ground level, the result of our efficient electric propulsion systems. Furthermore, their small size makes them difficult to see from the ground. In addition, the low cost of our small UAS relative to larger systems and alternatives makes it practical for customers to deploy these assets in large quantities directly to warfighters.

 

In emerging commercial applications, our small UAS enable enterprises to manage valuable assets such as crops, powerlines and railroad infrastructure, more effectively and safely than previously possible. Our Quantix data collection drone and AeroVironment Decision Support System (“AVDSS”), a cloud‑based platform for processing, analyzing and storing collected data, are designed to provide agriculture operations with more accurate and timely information regarding their crops. Better and more timely information can translate into more efficient activities that facilitate more efficient use of scarce resources such as water for agriculture.

 

Our small UAS offering also includes spare equipment, alternative payload modules, batteries, chargers, repair services and customer support. We provide training by our highly‑skilled instructors, who typically possess extensive military experience, and continuous refurbishment and repair services for our products. We designed our Quantix system for minimal training so customers can learn how to operate it on their own. By maintaining close contact with our customers and users in the field, we gather critical feedback on our products and incorporate that information into ongoing product development and research and development efforts. This approach enables us to improve our solutions in response to, and in anticipation of, evolving customer needs.

 

Each system in our small UAS portfolio typically includes multiple aircraft, our common and interoperable hand‑held ground control system and an array of spare parts and accessories. Our current small UAS portfolio for defense applications consists of the following aircraft:

 

 

The ground control system serves as the primary interface between the operator and our small UAS designed for defense applications, and allows the operator to control the direction, speed and altitude of the aircraft as well as the orientation of the sensors to view the visual information they produce through real‑time, streaming video and metadata. Our common ground control system interfaces with each of our air vehicles, providing a common user interface with each of our air vehicles. In addition to the thousands of air vehicles delivered to our customers, thousands of ground control systems are also in our customers’ hands.

 

Our line of miniature gimbaled sensor payloads provides small UAS operators with enhanced observation and target tracking functionality. Our DDL is integrated into Puma AE, Raven and Wasp AE systems, enhancing their capabilities, and ultimately, the utility of our small UAS by enabling more efficient radio spectrum utilization and communications security. Small UAS incorporating our DDL offer many more channels as compared to our analog link, increasing the number of air vehicles that can operate in a given geographic area. Additionally, our DDL enables each air vehicle to operate as an Internet‑Protocol addressable hub capable of routing and relaying video, voice and data to and from multiple other nodes on this ad hoc network. This capability enables beyond line‑of‑sight operation of our small UAS, further enhancing their value proposition to our customers.

 

Tactical Missile Systems Products

 

Our tactical missile systems consist of tube-launched aircraft that deploy with the push of a button, fly at higher speeds than our small UAS, and perform either effects delivery or reconnaissance missions.  Switchblade, the first of our tactical missile systems products, can be transported in its launch tube, within a backpack, and deployed within minutes to defend against lethal threats such as snipers and mortar launchers.  With a high level of precision, including a customized warhead, wave-off, loiter and re-engagement capabilities, Switchblade can neutralize a target rapidly and accurately without causing collateral damage. Furthermore, because it streams live electro-optical and thermal video to its operator, Switchblade can be called off in the final moments prior to a strike should the situation require, minimizing damage to non-combatants.  Blackwing, a variant of Switchblade, launches from a submerged submarine and carries extra batteries instead of a warhead, providing longer flight time for reconnaissance operations.

 

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