AeroVironment Expands Huntsville Facility to Accelerate Freedom Eagle-1 Next-Generation Counter-UAS Missile Production

Arlington, Virginia — May 26, 2026 — AeroVironment, Inc. ("AV," NASDAQ: AVAV), a global defense technology leader, today announced that the U.S. government will make an additional $20.2 million investment to expand AV's production facility in Huntsville, Alabama. The investment is aimed at increasing Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) quantities of the Next-Generation Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System Missile (NGCM) and accelerating the path to Full-Rate Production (FRP). The missile system is formally designated the Freedom Eagle-1 (FE-1).

A Central Hub for Integrated Manufacturing

The expanded Huntsville facility will serve as the system-level integration, manufacturing, and production hub for FE-1, enabling rapid scale-up of interceptor output and compressed delivery timelines to meet the urgent operational requirements of the U.S. Army and combatant commands.

The expansion spans 24,000 square feet and is expected to drive local job creation, reflecting AV's sustained commitment to national security requirements while building cost-competitive production capacity, driving innovation, and ensuring on-time delivery.

Wahid Nawabi, Chairman, President, and CEO of AV, said: "Expanding our footprint in Huntsville allows AV to integrate more deeply into the Army's aviation and missile defense ecosystem, enabling tighter collaboration, faster iteration, and more efficient scaling. As we move into production of Freedom Eagle-1, that geographic proximity is critical — FE-1 was designed from the ground up to address increasingly complex, high-density aerial threats in a scalable, cost-effective manner."

Building on an Established Contract Foundation

This latest investment follows AV's recent selection for a $95.9 million contract awarded by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (CCDC AvMC) through the Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium (AMTC). The contract covers the NGCM and Long-Range Kinetic Interceptor (LRKI) programs and marks Freedom Eagle-1's formal transition from development into scaled production and operational deployment.

In March, AV also announced a $97 million contract to design and integrate a next-generation missile defense sensor test prototype environment at Redstone Arsenal — a federal research campus in Huntsville hosting more than 70 organizations, including NASA, the FBI, the Missile Defense Agency, the Army Program Executive Office (Fires), and the future U.S. Space Command headquarters.

Jimmy Jenkins, Executive Vice President of AV's Precision Strike and Effector Systems business, said: "This expansion is a critical step in scaling Freedom Eagle-1 production and accelerating its path to operational deployment. By increasing manufacturing capacity, enhancing integration capabilities, and achieving volume production, we are delivering a cost-effective interceptor purpose-built to defeat increasingly complex, high-density aerial threats."

Freedom Eagle-1 System Capabilities

Freedom Eagle-1 is built around the dual mandate of high performance and affordability. The system is a low-cost, high-performance interceptor designed to effectively defeat Group 2 and Group 3 UAS, while retaining the capability to engage Group 1 UAS, fixed-wing aircraft, and rotary-wing aircraft. It offers enhanced lethality, extended range, and rapid engagement capability.

FE-1 has already achieved multiple key development milestones, including:

• Successful live-fire demonstration of a dual-thrust solid rocket motor
• Completion of a controlled test vehicle launch
• Completion of warhead testing

These results validate the system's technical maturity and reduce program risk on the path to operational deployment.

Congressional Support and Regional Economic Impact

U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (AL-04) stated: "As national defense and security needs continue to grow, meeting capability requirements is essential, and Alabama continues to lead the nation in defense manufacturing and innovation — making it the ideal location for AV's expansion."

The Huntsville expansion aligns with AV's broader strategy to grow domestic manufacturing capacity. The company previously announced a $30 million expansion of its Albuquerque, New Mexico campus, projected to generate more than $670 million in economic impact over the next decade, create over 450 high-paying jobs, and increase production capacity for critical defense and space technologies.

About AeroVironment (AV)

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is a defense technology leader delivering integrated capabilities across the air, land, sea, space, and cyber domains. The company develops and fields autonomous systems, loitering munitions, counter-UAS solutions, space platforms, directed energy systems, and cyber and electronic warfare capabilities to meet today's and tomorrow's mission requirements. AV's core technology, AV_Halo, is a modular, mission-ready, AI-powered software toolkit that empowers warfighters and enables all-domain battlefield dominance: detect, decide, strike. For more information, visit www.avinc.com.

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