On Thursday, July 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of State approved the potential sale to Greece of a batch of next-generation Switchblade 300 Block 20 loitering munitions manufactured by AeroVironment Inc. (AV), as part of a package valued at up to 80.1 million USD.
Photos: AeroVironment Inc.
According to the published notice, the Greek government requested approval to acquire 350 Switchblade 300 Block 20 (SB300B20) loitering munitions in the Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System (LMAMS) category, together with 35 SB300B20 LMAMS fire control system (FCS) units.
The request also covered the following non-Major Defense Equipment items: Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) cryptographic modules for Switchblade 600 (SB600) loitering munitions, together with LMAMS GPS satellite navigation modules and SB600 fire control system units; tactical battery chargers for the SB300B20; smart battery chargers for the SB600; spare parts packages; training services; field service representative support; technical, logistics, and engineering support provided by the U.S. government and the contractor, AeroVironment Inc.; and other related elements of logistics and program support.
Analysis
On October 13, 2025, during the AUSA 2025 defense exhibition in Washington, D.C., AeroVironment Inc. unveiled a new generation of Switchblade loitering munitions: the Switchblade 600 Block 2, Switchblade 400, and the Switchblade 300 Block 20 discussed here, equipped with an explosively formed penetrator warhead.
The combat-proven Switchblade 300 Block 20 features a new modular payload bay capable of accommodating an explosively formed penetrator warhead, improving its effectiveness against armored vehicles. Weighing just 3.2 kg, or 7.2 lb, this backpack-portable precision loitering munition allows a single operator to launch an effector against beyond-line-of-sight targets in less than two minutes.
The upgraded platform also offers an improved sensor and camera suite with panoramic viewing, a touchscreen interface supporting multiple target-approach angles, user-selectable detonation points with continuous positive identification of the target, and an extended range of up to 30 km when fitted with an optional antenna.
Developed in accordance with Modular Open Systems Approach standards, the new generation of Switchblade loitering munitions can be seamlessly integrated with command-and-control platforms, including ATAK, Nett Warrior, and AeroVironment’s AV_Halo Command Tactical software with the Kinesis common tactical control architecture, providing rapid and intuitive operation.
These platforms are based on AV_Halo Vision, formerly known as AV SPOTR-Edge, which forms part of AeroVironment’s unified suite of mission-ready software tools. The system provides computer-vision capabilities for detecting, classifying, locating, and tracking operationally relevant objects, including people, vehicles, and vessels, by day or night and even in GPS-denied or communications-jammed environments.
Thanks to a common design architecture, the systems use the same tablet-based fire-control interface, patented wave-off and recommit functions, encrypted data links, and mission-planning tools. This reduces logistics requirements and operator training time.
In December 2024 the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence approved a request from the Hellenic National Defence General Staff to acquire 592 Switchblade 300 Block 20 and Switchblade 600 loitering munitions for the Hellenic Army and special operations units.
The procurement was valued at 75.2 million USD, of which 50.2 million USD came from Foreign Military Financing direct-loan funds. The package also included training simulators, operational modules, and support.
On June 11 this year, Greece also approved the purchase of 10 additional Shield AI V-Bat vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft – six for the Hellenic Army and four for the Hellenic Navy – for 71 million EUR, as well as two additional IAI Heron TP unmanned aerial vehicles for 40 million EUR.
AeroVironment products are distributed in Poland by Kielce-based Parasnake Arkadiusz Szewczyk (MSPO 2024: Parasnake will Showcase UAVs from AeroVironment).
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