AeroVironment Switchblade (300/600) vs Vector (and Trinity) in 2026

AeroVironment Switchblade (300/600)

AeroVironment's Switchblade is a family of tube-launched loitering munitions: the Switchblade 300 (anti-personnel) and Switchblade 600 (anti-armor). These are military weapon systems, not consumer products, so there is no consumer price. They are mass-produced and supplied to the US Army under a nearly $1B IDIQ and sent to Ukraine; the US Army program of record is LMAMS (Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System).

As a legacy-prime loitering-munition archetype, the Switchblade is operator-launched and operator-committed to target: it is not a fully autonomous weapon, and the autonomy framing for loitering munitions is cap-flagged honestly. Recorded at production maturity on named contracts and combat fielding.

Vector (and Trinity)

Quantum Systems' Vector is a fixed-wing VTOL tactical ISR (reconnaissance) drone from the Munich-based new-defense maker founded in 2015 by ex-Bundeswehr pilot Florian Seibel. It is sold to governments, not consumers, so there is no consumer price. Its fielding is the cleanest of the new-defense set: Germany-financed deliveries to Ukraine reached 619 Vector units by April 2025 (up from 438 across 2022-2023 orders), alongside 100 donated Trinity survey drones.

The company raised a EUR 160M Series C in May 2025 (the first European dual-use unicorn) and a EUR 180M round in November 2025 at roughly a EUR 3B / $3.5B valuation. On AI substance the Vector is genuinely AI-powered ISR (onboard detection, combat-reported acoustic artillery detection), but it is a reconnaissance platform whose autonomy is processing-grade, not strike-grade: a lower autonomy ambition than Anduril or Helsing, and much of the AI detail rests on company description.

Recorded at commercial maturity on fielding evidence. A plan to build 400 Vector drones in Ukraine, EUR 300-500M revenue projections, and a possible 2026 IPO are claimed but not verified.