TAMPA, Fla. — Armed drones, loitering munitions and launched effects were all center stage at this year’s SOF Week expo here, with companies like Teledyne FLIR and AV showing off their latest systems.
Teledyne FLIR displayed Block 2 of its electrically propelled, quadrotor Rogue 1 lethal unmanned aerial system, which also recently went under contract for the Army’s Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program.
Unveiled on the first day of SOF Week, Rogue 1 Block 2 has twice the range of the Block 1 variant at more than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles). It also has a new “shape charge jet, anti-armor payload” designed to neutralize “hardened vehicles.” Additional improvements include advanced communications, autonomy and electronic warfare resilience mission suites, a company spokesperson told Breaking Defense.
“After two years of customer fielding and success with the US Marine Corps Organic Precision Fires-Light, US Special Operations Command Ground Organic Precision Strike Systems programs and more, the Block 2 upgrade leverages user feedback to greatly enhance performance, resilience, and operational capability, all while maintaining existing form-factor,” a company statement read.
Deliveries of the Block 2 are scheduled to begin by the third quarter of 2026, according to the statement. No further details were disclosed by USSOCOM.
Elsewhere at the show, AV and BlueHalo showcased their wares under a unified banner.
For example, the company had on display its Mayhem 10 launched effect, capable of conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance or precision strike missions. Unveiled earlier this year, Mayhem 10 can carry a range of electronic warfare sensors as well as the Javelin Multi-Purpose warhead.
Speaking to Breaking Defense, a company spokesperson explained how the launched effect is fired from the Common Launch Tube. However, no live fire test from an aircraft has yet taken place, only ground launches.
AV also exhibited the latest member in its Switchblade family of loitering munitions, the electrically propelled, fixed-wing SB 400. The SB400 was unveiled in October and joins the SB 300 and SB 600. Earlier this month, the loitering munition went under contract for the Army’s LASSO program of record.
The canister-launched SB 400 features the same Javelin warhead as the SB 600 but is reduced in length thanks to a smaller gimbal in the nose section.
The spokesperson said that both Mayhem 10 and SB 400 are ready to enter mass production with “thousands” of units capable of being manufactured a month in line with demand signals emerging from the Pentagon.
To this end, AV is in the process of establishing an additional manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City which will be dedicated to the production of loitering munitions, the spokesperson said. The facility is scheduled to begin production in January 2027.
