- Mayhem 10 is a versatile evolution of Switchblade. AeroVironment’s new drone system offers modular payloads for diverse missions, enhancing adaptability in combat scenarios.
- Rapid deployment and reconfiguration capabilities. Mayhem 10 can be assembled and launched in under five minutes, with a range of 62 miles and 50 minutes of flight time.
- Designed for collaborative swarm operations. The AV_Halo Command architecture enables Mayhem 10 to operate in swarms, enhancing coverage and coordinated effects.
- Advanced autonomy and resilience features. AI-driven processors and secure communication systems ensure functionality in contested environments.
- Production readiness and scalability. AeroVironment is prepared to produce up to 2,000 units annually, targeting the U.S. Army’s LE-SR program.
Bottom line: AeroVironment’s Mayhem 10 drone system advances the Switchblade lineage with modularity, rapid deployment, and swarm capabilities, positioning it as a versatile option for the U.S. Army and other customers in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
AeroVironment has unveiled a new entrant in the rapidly evolving launched effects space, introducing the Mayhem 10 system as a further evolution of its combat-proven Switchblade family. While pitching Mayhem 10 toward U.S. Army requirements, the manufacturer anticipates considerable demand and has already started to develop a production line that will be able to push out as many as 2,000 examples of the vehicle annually. The price of a Mayhem 10 has not been disclosed.
Revealed yesterday at the Army Aviation Association of America’s Army Aviation Warfighting Summit in Nashville, Tennessee, the Mayhem 10 is intended to equip air, ground, and maritime platforms and to be capable of being rapidly deployed and reconfigured in the field.
Mayhem 10 Launched Effects | One System. Multiple Effects.
At its core, Mayhem 10 is an autonomous launched effects system with a heavy focus on modularity. Its payload architecture allows operators to swap between lethal and non-lethal configurations depending on mission needs. That includes intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), electronic warfare, communications relay, deception/decoy, and precision strike roles. As such, commanders can rely on a single platform that can pivot as conditions evolve.
According to company leadership, the focus is on compressing the sensor-to-shooter timeline while reducing risk to personnel and high-value assets. “Mayhem 10 sets a new standard for operational versatility and survivability on the modern battlefield,” said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment’s chairman, president, and CEO, emphasizing its ability to operate effectively even in heavily contested environments.
The system draws heavily on the lineage of AeroVironment’s Switchblade family, but is intended to push beyond traditional loitering munitions in terms of scale and flexibility. The Mayhem 10 name reflects the fact that it can carry a payload of up to 10 pounds. It has a range of roughly 62 miles and can remain airborne for up to 50 minutes. Notably, it is designed for rapid deployment, with assembly and launch said to be achievable in under five minutes.
Speaking to TWZ at the summit, Austin Johnson, AeroVironment’s business development director for U.S. Army programs, stressed that, while Mayhem is an evolution of Switchblade, “it’s not a Switchblade.”
A video showing the Switchblade 600 loitering munition being used in combat in Ukraine:
Ukraine’s Best Weapon? The Switchblade 600
“Mayhem is not just leave-the-tube, find-the-armor, kill-the-armor, kill-the-enemy. Mayhem is any mission, anywhere, anytime. So right now, we launch out of a Common Launch Tube. We can air and ground launch,” Johnson added.
Physically, the system incorporates a removable forward section — seen in the video embedded below — to speed up integration of new payloads. More than eight different payloads have been integrated so far, Johnson said. Its launcher is self-contained and adaptable, so it can be used by dismounted troops as well as from vehicles, aircraft, and other mobile platforms. In terms of aircraft, the same promotional video shows the Mayhem 10 being launched from tubes carried on the stub wings of an H-60 Black Hawk series helicopter.
Another difference with Switchblade is Mayhem 10’s use of rocket-assisted takeoff, rather than using a gas generator. This reflects the Army’s pivot toward rocket-assisted launch, the company told us.
Kevin Williams, the chief engineer for Mayhem, told TWZ another way in which Mayhem 10 differs from Switchblade.
“Mayhem 10 is highly optimized; this is purpose-built for the launched effects mission, as opposed to a Switchblade, which is very much purpose-built for a singular anti-tank, anti-armor mission,” Williams explained. “Modularity is at its very core.”
Thanks to its modular open systems approach (MOSA), Mayhem 10 can receive upgrades and have third-party payloads integrated without major redesign.
“The modularity is really the main point here,” Johnson said. “We held a payload conference about a year and a half ago. We brought multiple vendors in, from across the spectrum, with different payloads. We shared our ICD, our interface control document, and then they came back. We wanted to make this as open architecture as we could for the Army, and it shares a lot of that same open architecture design that we’ve already incorporated with our P550,” — AeroVironment’s autonomous Group 2 eVTOL uncrewed air system, which is already in service.
A video showing the AeroVironment P550 UAS:
AeroVironment’s P550 eVTOL: Rapid Deployment and Enhanced Situational Awareness
Among the payload options, Johnson brought attention to one that “effectively can act as a HARM missile, meaning that we can identify, detect, and kill an emitter.”
Williams described one real-life scenario in which the company ran a hackathon to prove the payload modularity. The result was payload designers getting access to the interface control model, which can even be done via QR code, to get a full understanding of electrical, mechanical, and data interfaces. In at least one instance, the resulting payload was then physically integrated within 90 minutes of the supplier showing up at the AeroVironment facility.
Meanwhile, operators interface with the system through AeroVironment’s Tomahawk Grip and the AV_Halo Command environment, which are optimized for networked and distributed operations.
Perhaps most significantly, the AV_Halo Command architecture allows Mayhem 10 to operate in collaborative swarms. By networking multiple systems together, units can expand coverage, saturate defenses, and execute coordinated effects across a wide area. Brian Young, the company’s senior vice president for loitering munitions, framed this as a shift in how combat power is generated, scaling effects without concentrating forces or increasing platform risk.
“We can complete multiple missions in one swarm,” Johnson continued. “They can communicate with each other and complete it. They can jam the enemy with EW payloads. We have multiple kinetic payloads, so we can run a full mission profile with multiple Mayhems.”
On the autonomy side, Mayhem 10 leverages an AI-driven processor, which the manufacturer says ensures operations in denied or degraded environments. It is designed to have resilience against jamming, spoofing, and loss of traditional navigation signals. Secure positioning and communications are enabled through M-Code GPS and a Silvus datalink, while a MANET-based mesh network provides command-and-control connectivity at ranges of roughly 16-25 miles.
At this point, AeroVironment has conducted over 50 internally funded flight tests with Mayhem 10. These have included live ordnance, EW, and Link relay flight tests, with various payloads.
“We’re approaching TRL 8 [Technology Readiness Level 8, meaning it has been tested and flight qualified] with this system this summer and entering low-rate initial production later this year,” Williams explained.
Considering that the Army is yet to place a contract, that might seem like jumping the gun, but AeroVironment says they wanted to go fast, to have a reliable product ready for when the service started to look to buy them.
“We’re entering the competitions,” Williams said. “We wanted to go fast, reliably, though. We didn’t want to come in and have a lesser product. We’re delivering a weapon system, not an experimental system.”
Currently, the company is mainly using Mayhem 10 to target the U.S. Army’s Launched Effects-Short Range (LE-SR) program, but stresses that this is part of a new family of products, so additional variants will likely appear in the future.
Should the Army choose Mayhem 10, the company has already made preparations to ramp up production. While low-rate initial production is being handled at a production line in Simi Valley, California, the company is establishing a new manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. This will have the capacity to scale production up to between 1,000 and 2,000 units annually.
Taken together, Mayhem 10 reflects a clear trajectory in modern warfare: smaller, smarter, and more networked systems that can be fielded quickly, easily adapted, and employed in large numbers to overwhelm an adversary. At the same time, it is entering the market that is fast becoming saturated with similar products, and there will be no shortage of rivals for future Army orders.
Jamie Hunter contributed to this story.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com