Defence companies circle US Army drone replacement competition

JUMP 20 drones will now compete against products from Griffon Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada Corp and Textron Systems to select the best system to be fielded with brigade combat teams instead of the RQ-7B Shadow.

AeroVironment vice president and product line general manager for medium unmanned aircraft systems, Gorik Hossepian, said JUMP 20 demonstrated superior competitive performance and was awarded the FTUAS increment one contract to develop a prototype system.

“The AeroVironment JUMP 20 is the most mature and capable solution in its class,” he said.

“We will continue to work closely with the US Army to ensure we meet their performance needs both today for an all-environment aircraft system and in the future as requirements evolve to meet changing battlefield demands.”

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.