AV Awarded $97M US Army Contract to Advance Next-Gen Sensor Testing

AeroVironment, Inc. (“AV”) (NASDAQ: AVAV), a leading provider of advanced research and development solutions for national security missions, today announced it has been awarded a three-year, $97.4 million contract under the U.S. Army’s Aviation and Missile Technology Consortium (AMTC) to develop and deliver the Generative Environment for the Next Era of Spectral Imaging Stimulators (GENESIS)—a next-generation Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) test environment for validating advanced missile defense and electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) sensor systems.  

AV will design and integrate prototype test environments—including flight motion table and cryogenic space chamber facilities—at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, to accelerate the next generation of Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD). The unified environment will enable joint planning, modeling, and validation across space, air, and missile defense domains in support of the Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center (DEVCOM AvMC), and its government partners. 

“True innovation in defense starts long before technology reaches the battlefield—it starts in how we test, refine, and prove it,” said Mary Clum, President of Space, Cyber and Directed Energy at AV. “By creating realistic, repeatable, and scalable testing ecosystems, we’re helping the Army accelerate innovation, strengthen deterrence, and ensure our warfighters maintain a decisive advantage in every domain.” 

GENESIS represents a generational leap in Hardware-in-the-Loop (HWIL) capability, integrating advanced multi-spectral projection, ultra–high frame-rate imaging, precision optics, and intelligent facility control systems to recreate complex, real-world environments with unmatched fidelity. By combining real hardware with simulated environments, HWIL and Scene Generation enable realistic, dynamic testing of sensors, guidance, and control systems, allowing DEVCOM AvMC to validate and field technologies faster and with greater confidence, while refining performance, reducing risk, and strengthening the industrial base for future military applications. 

“GENESIS shows what’s possible when industry and government align around a shared vision of innovation,” said Johnathan Jones, Senior Vice President for Cyber and Mission Solutions at AV. “We’re pushing the boundaries of sensor testing—advancing realism and precision to help the U.S. military accelerate development, reduce risk, and deliver mission-ready technologies that preserve our nation’s decisive advantage and give warfighters the most capable, reliable systems possible.”