American defense firm AeroVironment, known for its Switchblade loitering munitions used by Ukrainian Defense Forces, plans to open a new production facility in Salt Lake City in late 2026 or early 2027, the head of the company's loitering munitions program, Brian Young, told Defense News.
According to Young, the decision reflects the company's desire to be ready for a scenario in which the United States will ultimately buy larger quantities of loitering munitions under the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance initiative. You will see a significant shift in the program in terms of both technology and scale, he noted.
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The new plant is expected to eventually reach output rates even higher than AeroVironment's main facility in Los Angeles. Current production of Switchblade-type loitering munitions stands at about 500 units per month; AeroVironment's press release specifies that the larger Switchblade 600 variant is being produced at a rate of 240 units per month.
The Salt Lake City facility is intended to boost capacity to more than 1,200 units per month roughly 14,400 drones per year.
That expansion comes after a late-September announcement that the Pentagon is purchasing Israeli loitering munitions from UVision under a $1 billion order, rather than relying solely on a domestic solution. It is possible that AeroVironments capacity expansion is also a signal to the U.S defense establishment that the company is prepared to meet a larger demand for its loitering munitions.
Earlier, Defense Expressreported on a new highly capable 400 km-range strike UAV from the makers of Switchblade that may already be in Ukraine.
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