AEVEX secures $88.1M in orders for long-range precision strike systems

Solana Beach, CA – AEVEX Corp., a California-based defense technology company, announced on July 28, 2026, that it has secured new production orders totaling $88.1 million to deliver long-range precision strike capabilities to U.S. government customers.

The company described the awards as supporting mission needs across high-priority operational theaters, though it did not name specific programs, locations, or the exact systems involved. These details remain the company's own characterization rather than independently confirmed specifics.

Background and Reputation

AEVEX built its reputation on the Phoenix Ghost, a family of loitering munitions. These weapons fly to a target area, circle overhead searching for a target, and then crash into it in what the military calls a "one-way attack," destroying both the drone and the target in a single strike.

The Pentagon first revealed the Phoenix Ghost program in April 2022, when it announced that 121 drones would be sent to Ukraine to help repel the Russian invasion. The family has since grown to include multiple variants of different sizes and ranges, including models called Disruptor and Dominator, which closely resemble the Iranian-designed Shahed 101 drone in general shape, according to reporting from The War Zone.

Disruptor Variant Specifications

• Length: Approximately 3.1 meters (10.1 ft)
• Weight: Around 84 kilograms (185 lb)
• Payload: 23 kilograms (50 lb)
• Range: Up to 598 kilometers (372 miles) per mission

This cost-effective strike option offers American and allied forces a fraction of the cost of a cruise missile or manned aircraft sortie—a critical advantage in a war defined by attrition rather than decisive single strikes.

Recent Contracts and Regulatory Filings

AEVEX disclosed in a regulatory filing earlier this year that it won a follow-on program called Deep Strike, covering 4,800 additional drone units for delivery within the European Command area of responsibility, as Aviation Week reported in April 2026. This confirms that Phoenix Ghost deliveries to the region have continued at meaningful scale well past the program's original 2022 emergency shipment to Ukraine.

The new $88.1 million order is part of a broader string of recent government contracts:

• June 30, 2026: $50 million U.S. Air Force contract for advanced unmanned mission capabilities
• July 6, 2026: $17.5 million follow-on contract supporting U.S. national security priorities

Aevex Aerospace LLC Contract

A related corporate entity, Aevex Aerospace LLC, also based in Solana Beach, separately received a $10,339,776 firm-fixed-price contract from the Army for hardware and related items supporting unmanned aircraft systems, according to a federal contract award notice.

Key details of that contract:

• Award method: Single bid solicitation (only one response)
• Work locations and funding: To be determined with each individual order
• Estimated completion date: September 30, 2027
• Managing agency: Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama
• Contract designation: W58RGZ-26-G-0046

The notice does not clarify whether Aevex Aerospace LLC operates as a direct subsidiary of the publicly traded AEVEX Corp. or as a related but distinct business entity—a distinction the public record leaves unresolved.

Public Company Transition

This pace of contract announcements arrives just months after AEVEX completed its transition to a publicly traded company. The company filed a prospectus and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange earlier in 2026, a move that provides access to public capital markets to fund the manufacturing scale-up required by its recent order volume.

CEO Statement

Roger Wells, AEVEX’s chief executive officer, framed the latest awards as evidence of sustained customer confidence in the company’s core product line.

“AEVEX customers continue to have confidence in our ability to deliver precision-focused autonomous capabilities at operationally relevant scale.”

Wells connected that confidence directly to the company’s combat track record, arguing that its offerings have already proven themselves.