US Army orders $982 million worth of “Lethal Unmanned Systems”

The US Army has placed a contract valued at $982 million with the US company Mistral Inc for what it describes as Lethal Unmanned Systems. The contract was announced on September 29, and expects work estimated to be completed by September 2030. Mistral provides a bridge between foreign company products and the US DoD. Its current product portfolio could indicate that the contract is for loitering munitions.

It is a hybrid contract including hybrid cost-no-fee and firm-fixed-price contracting mechanisms. This means that some of the orders will be at a firm fixed price, with no allowance for cost overruns, and some of them will be priced at whatever the costs incurred by Mistral happen to be without a profit. This is typically used for the high-risk or less-certain phases of a contract, indicating that there may be some development work involved.

From Mistral’s website, it appears that the company is a supplier of the UVision Hero loitering munitions that come in several variants. This could be the focus of the procurement. However, UVision did announce a production partnership with SAIC for domestic production of the Hero loitering munitions in 2024, and Mistral has not confirmed the system that it will be supplying. 

Tech profile: Hero loitering munition

The Hero Family is a series of loitering munitions designed to provide front-line forces with long-range independent fire capability combined with advanced intelligence gathering. They all feature a cruciform wing configuration for high maneuverability and enable the operator to maintain “man-in-the-loop” control, including the ability to abort, re-loiter, or re-engage a target. All models can operate in GPS-denied environments.

The family is categorized by size, range, and intended target, scaling from man-portable tactical systems to larger strategic platform-launched systems. The smallest system is the Hero 30, a man-portable munition with a range of 9.98 km and 30 minute endurance. It is designed to be used at the platoon level against personnel and light vehicles. The complete system, including its canister, weighs 7.48 kg and it can be fitted to vehicles and boats. The family ranges all the way up to the Hero 900, which is designed to be platform-launched and provide very long-range strike options in excess of 150 km. 

Calibre comment

The US Army is working to improve its lethality through a range of core programmes and lines of effort. One example is the Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO). A SAM.gov notice on the programme from May 2025 states that, “The Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) is required due to lack of adequate proportional organic capabilities to apply immediate, point long-range fire with minimal collateral damage in complex terrain in all environments.” The Infantry Brigade Combat Teams are changing how they are expected to fight and things like loitering munitions could extend their reach and ability to engage targets that will shape the battlefield in front of them. Other procurements include the Mobile-Long Range Precision Strike Missile (M-LRPSM), which was down-selected to Lockheed Martin with Rafael’s Spike NLOS missile in August this year, which will go to the Infantry Brigade Combat Teams. 

Separately, the US Army is procuring additional ISTAR drones, and has awarded contracts to AeroVironment and Edge Autonomy for the rapid delivery of their P550 and Stalker Block 35X drone systems, respectively. These Group 2 UAS are intended to provide reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA) capabilities directly to manoeuvre battalions, offering organic aerial reconnaissance for ground commanders. This is part of a wider drive to improve ISTAR and lethality at the battalion level. It appears that this loitering munition procurement is related to some of these efforts 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on October 1, 2025. The lead image shows a soldier from the 19th Special Forces Group preparing to launch a Hero-120 Loitering Munition during exercise Summit Strike on Fort Drum, New York, Nov. 20, 2024. Credit: US Army photo by Pvt. Abigail Stewart.