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AeroVironment supplies military customers with uncrewed systems, precision-strike weapons such as Switchblade, and systems that defend against drones and missiles. Its Autonomous Systems business brings in most of its revenue. Following the BlueHalo acquisition, it also has a substantial business supplying satellite technology, cyber and mission services, and directed-energy systems for defense and intelligence customers. Customers pay for equipment, customer-funded development and engineering, and support such as training, spare parts and repairs.
The U.S. government accounts for a substantial majority of revenue, including equipment sold through it to foreign governments. The Department of Defense is the main customer. AeroVironment also sells directly to foreign customers. Most U.S. government contracts are competitively bid, so the business depends on winning awards and receiving government funding. Government customers can terminate contracts for convenience.
Most revenue comes from fixed-price work: AeroVironment generally receives payment as it delivers products and must fund production before delivery, though some contracts provide progress payments. It absorbs costs above the agreed price. International deliveries require U.S. export authorizations, which can limit where it may sell.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
AeroVironment’s results hinge on U.S. and allied defense procurement, with privately held Anduril—a key rival missing from this list—worth watching for drone and precision-strike orders.
AEVEX competes with AeroVironment to sell military customers unmanned aircraft and one-way attack systems. Watch its Tactical Systems orders for evidence of competition in the autonomous aircraft that military buyers need.
Red Cat competes with AeroVironment for tactical military drone orders, but the two also plan to have AeroVironment’s P550 carry and release Red Cat’s FANG drone. Watch design and compatibility progress: this configuration is still under development, not an operational offering.
Redwire challenges AeroVironment for defense unmanned-aircraft orders, while both sell space hardware to national-security customers. Its defense drone business and national-security space sales are the relevant areas to watch, rather than its civil and commercial space work.
Kratos and AeroVironment both depend on U.S. and allied defense customers investing in unmanned systems and satellite technology. Kratos sells jet-powered unmanned aircraft and equipment that controls satellites from the ground; watch those businesses alongside AeroVironment’s tactical drones and space communications.
Elbit Systems competes with AeroVironment for military unmanned aircraft and munitions that wait for a target before striking, known as loitering munitions. Its Aerospace business includes unmanned aircraft, making that part of its results more relevant than its wider platform-upgrade and support work.
Lockheed Martin competes with AeroVironment for government defense work in military drones, loitering munitions, systems that stop drones, and cyber mission solutions. Its awards in those areas matter more to AeroVironment holders than its broad aerospace and space results.
L3Harris competes with AeroVironment for defense unmanned aircraft, systems that stop drones or disrupt electronics, and cyber mission solutions. Watch contract awards in these areas, where U.S. government spending pays for competing capabilities.
Northrop Grumman competes with AeroVironment for defense unmanned aircraft, counter-drone systems and electronic warfare. Its military and intelligence contract awards in those areas are the useful comparison, rather than results across its entire defense and space business.
Textron competes with AeroVironment for defense customers’ unmanned-aircraft and loitering-munition orders. Watch those awards rather than Textron’s aircraft servicing and business-jet sales, which do not describe this rivalry.
Teledyne competes with AeroVironment for defense unmanned-aircraft orders and also sells defense electronics and engineered systems. Drone awards are the direct competitive signal; Teledyne’s broader sales also include imaging and industrial instruments.
AIRO’s Sky-Watch reconnaissance drones compete with AeroVironment’s small military aircraft for defense customers. Watch its RQ-35 Heidrun’s ability to operate without GPS, a capability AIRO highlights from use in EU and NATO countries, including the Ukraine conflict.
Leidos competes with AeroVironment for cyber and mission-solutions contracts from national-security customers. Watch awards in its National Security & Digital business; U.S. government contracts supplied 87% of Leidos’s fiscal 2025 revenue, but that figure covers more than this overlap.
Booz Allen competes for cyber and mission-solutions work with the operations AeroVironment acquired through BlueHalo. Its federal cybersecurity contracts are the relevant area to watch, rather than its wider commercial technology services.
AeroVironment uses high-performance battery cells from Amprius in its unmanned-aircraft programs, making Amprius a supplier rather than a rival. Watch shipments and repeat orders for the balanced energy/power cells designed into those programs, not Amprius’s total aviation sales.
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation earningsBAH
Booz Allen Hamilton’s federal cybersecurity contracts will show how much work national-security customers are awarding in an area that overlaps with AeroVironment’s cyber and mission-solutions business.
Watch contract activity and related revenue in Booz Allen Hamilton’s federal cybersecurity work; its broader technology services are not all part of the overlap. Stronger activity would indicate customers are buying more relevant cybersecurity work and that a rival is winning business. Weaker activity could mean fewer government opportunities in this area, not an automatic gain for AeroVironment. The conclusion is whether demand and competition in cyber and mission solutions are both strengthening.
Redwire Corporation earningsRDW
Redwire’s national-security space sales will show whether government demand for space hardware is strengthening in an area relevant to AeroVironment’s SCDE business.
Focus on Redwire’s national-security space sales, not its civil and commercial space work. Growth in those sales would indicate stronger government demand for space hardware and a firmer market signal for AeroVironment’s SCDE business. A decline would weaken that signal, but would not establish a change in AeroVironment’s own contracts or sales. The takeaway is whether customer demand in this relevant space-hardware market is strengthening or fading.
Amprius Technologies, Inc. earningsAMPX
Amprius’s shipments and repeat orders for high-performance battery cells will show whether this input, identified as relevant to AeroVironment programs, is flowing steadily.
Watch shipments and repeat orders for Amprius’s high-performance battery cells, not its total aviation sales. Stronger shipments and repeat orders would support the view that supply of the relevant cells is available; weaker activity could point to a supply or customer-demand constraint. Amprius’s report cannot establish how many cells AeroVironment actually receives, so the conclusion is whether the supply-risk signal is strengthening, not whether AeroVironment’s production has been disrupted.
AEVEX Corp. earningsAVEX
AEVEX’s Tactical Systems orders and sales will show how much business military buyers are placing with a rival in unmanned aircraft and one-way-attack systems.
Focus on AEVEX Tactical Systems orders and sales, not its other businesses. Stronger activity would show military buyers purchasing products that overlap with AeroVironment’s unmanned aircraft and one-way-attack systems, while also showing a rival gaining business. Weaker activity would signal a softer market for those products, not prove that AeroVironment won the work. The takeaway is whether demand in this overlapping market is active and competition is intensifying.
AeroVironment, Inc. earningsThis company
AeroVironment’s segment revenue and adjusted EBITDA will show whether growth in AxS and SCDE is turning into segment profit.
Compare revenue with Segment Adjusted EBITDA for AxS and SCDE; management uses this measure to assess segment profitability, after specified items are excluded. Revenue growth alongside stronger adjusted EBITDA in both segments would show that added sales are producing more segment profit. If revenue rises but adjusted EBITDA does not—particularly if SCDE remains loss-making—costs and the changing business mix are absorbing the growth. The conclusion is whether the expanded business is converting sales into profit across both segments.
