AeroVironment’s AMP-HEL Laser Clears White Sands Test With Automated Airspace Deconfliction — A Capability That Matters More After El Paso

The Army’s first-of-its-kind AMP-HEL counter-drone laser test at White Sands is most significant not for the laser itself, but for the automated safety mechanism that prevented it from targeting civilian aircraft — a direct response to the institutional embarrassment of AeroVironment’s own LOCUST system shooting down a Customs and Border Protection drone on the southern border just three weeks ago.

That February incident exposed a critical gap in AeroVironment’s directed-energy C-UAS portfolio: capable hardware, inadequate airspace deconfliction. The AMP-HEL test suggests the Army and AeroVironment have moved quickly to demonstrate a software-layer fix, and that sequencing matters for procurement officers evaluating C-UAS bids. AeroVironment carries a CONTENDER rating from us, and its C-UAS positioning is one of the thinner parts of that thesis — the company acquired Tomahawk Robotics in 2023 partly to bolster counter-drone credentials, but directed-energy remains a nascent line rather than a revenue driver. With $435M in funded backlog representing only 7-8 months of revenue coverage, AeroVironment needs C-UAS to develop into a third revenue pillar alongside its Small UAS and Tactical Missile Systems segments, the latter now accounting for 40-45% of the company’s $664.8M in FY2025 revenue.

The competitive read here is pointed. Anduril’s Pulsar EW system and Northrop Grumman’s FAAD C-UAS architecture are both pursuing the same Army directed-energy integration dollars, and neither had a friendly-fire incident to explain away last month. The automated deconfliction demonstration at White Sands is AeroVironment’s answer to that liability, and defense program managers evaluating C-UAS layered defense architectures should note that the Army chose to conduct this test publicly — the DefenseScoop access was deliberate signaling. Separately, AeroVironment announced the $200M acquisition of ESAero the same day this test was reported, suggesting the company is in an active portfolio-expansion posture even as it manages reputational repair on the directed-energy side. At 42x trailing P/E, the market is pricing execution across all of these bets simultaneously.

BOTTOM LINE

Program managers building C-UAS procurement packages should flag AMP-HEL’s automated airspace deconfliction as a requirement criterion in upcoming solicitations — AeroVironment has now demonstrated it publicly, which will pressure Anduril and Northrop to respond with equivalent safety architecture disclosures before the next competitive down-select.

Confidence: MODERATE — The White Sands test confirms the capability exists and the Army sanctioned public coverage, but no contract value, unit specifications, or program-of-record linkage for AMP-HEL has been disclosed, leaving the path from test to procurement award uncertain.

Source: https://defensescoop.com/2026/03/16/inside-counter-drone-laser-test-new-mexico-white-sands/

Product Portfolio — AeroVironment Inc.

Signal Activity — AeroVironment Inc.

Competitive Positioning — AeroVironment Inc.