Aventra Defense Systems has raised $17.5 million to move its Piranha autonomous precision system into low-rate production.
The funding will expand work at its Herndon, Virginia, facility, increase flight testing, and support development of additional systems.
Piranha is launched from a high-altitude balloon before deploying as an autonomous glider. Aventra said the approach allows the system to use stratospheric winds to travel long distances without continuously burning fuel, reducing the propulsion requirements of the platform.
Aventra said it has also secured its first series of delivery contracts, but has not disclosed the customers, contract values, or quantities.
The company also plans to qualify additional payload and communications configurations for various missions, while expanding its engineering and manufacturing workforce.
Aventra’s Piranha
Piranha is an autonomous precision payload system designed to operate from stratospheric altitudes. Rather than relying on a conventional powered aircraft to carry a payload over its entire route, the system is lifted by a high-altitude balloon and then released to glide toward its destination.
Aventra’s approach is aimed at reducing the cost of long-range precision effects by shifting much of the system’s movement to altitude, gravity, and atmospheric winds.
The company describes Piranha as a configurable platform that can carry different payloads for kinetic effects and electronic warfare missions.
“Today’s conflicts and the wars of the future will be won with volume, persistence, and affordability, which is why we’re working so hard to deliver more range and more kinetic effect,” Aventra CEO Michael Weigand said.
In April, US soldiers assembled and deployed Piranha systems using different high-altitude balloon solutions. The gliders then autonomously navigated across significant lateral and vertical distances while carrying out ISR and precision-effects missions.
