AUSA 2025: Venator’s Flycat aligns with U.S. Army’s call for attritable strike drones
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Venator Technologies unveiled Flycat, a GPS-independent, X-wing loitering munition displayed at AUSA 2025 that pairs loitering-munition effects with automated, jam-resistant navigation. The compact, electric 12 kilogram airframe is built for light tactical teams and aims to deliver affordable, precision attritable strike options when satellite navigation is denied.
Washington, D.C, Oct 15 : According to information gathered by Army Recognition during AUSA 2025, the Venator’s Flycat is a ground target engagement system that marries loitering munition effects with fully automated navigation designed to survive electronic warfare. Army Recognition photographed the full scale display at AUSA 2025 in Washington, where drones and counter drone systems dominated the show floor and program chatter. The missile shaped airframe with distinctive X wings carries modular warheads and is built to prosecute targets even when satellite navigation is denied. The exhibit underscored how attritable precision strike is moving from urgent battlefield improvisation to export ready product families.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Flycat loitering munition is a GPS-independent, X-wing airframe with 40 km range/40 min endurance, 2.5–3.6 kg modular warhead, pneumatic launch and autonomous, EW-resilient target tracking (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
Flycat’s airframe is electric powered, quiet, and compact, a profile that fits light tactical teams. Manufacturer data lists a 12 kilogram takeoff weight and payload capacity between 2.5 and 3.6 kilograms, packaged in a fuselage roughly 1,350 by 1,340 by 800 millimeters. Endurance is 40 minutes with a stated 40 kilometer range, while operating altitude sits between 200 and 700 meters with a ceiling of 1,000 meters. Minimum speed is 70 km per hour, cruising at 85, with up to 120 in a terminal dive. The weapon is launched from a pneumatic catapult with a 20 minute readiness timeline, a practical detail for dispersed units that need to shoot and relocate before counter fires arrive.
By shifting lift and control authority off a conventional tail, the airframe can maneuver across all axes more aggressively than small airplane type drones, which matters during terminal attack against moving vehicles. Venator’s published concept allows Flycat to work alone or in tandem with a reconnaissance vehicle acting as both designator and communications repeater. The core of the design is independence from satellite navigation. Instead of GPS, Flycat relies on intelligent navigation and communications guidance modules that keep the weapon on route, autonomously track targets, and close for terminal effects even amid heavy jamming. Warheads are selectable high explosive, cumulative shaped charge, or thermobaric, in the 2.5 to 3.6 kilogram class, giving commanders the choice to penetrate armor, collapse structures, or neutralize personnel in defilade.
Flycat fills the gap between disposable FPV quadcopters and larger, costlier loitering munitions. A two person team can stage the catapult, program a route, and launch within minutes, then use the munition’s route following and autonomous target tracking to hunt soft skinned logistics vehicles, radar emitters, field artillery, or point defenses inside a 40 kilometer bubble. The electric motor reduces acoustic signature, while the ability to dive at 120 km per hour complicates last second countermeasures. Pairing with a scout platform extends line of sight links in broken terrain, while the GPS independent logic is a direct answer to the dense jamming now normal on the front lines.
The debut in Washington lands as the U.S. Army redoubles its search for affordable mass in unmanned strike and as AUSA 2025 showcases a surge of drone and counter drone offerings from primes and startups alike. Service leaders are openly pushing for faster procurement and cheaper attritable options, while the growth in drone incursions at U.S. bases underlines how rapidly the threat environment is evolving. In parallel, Ukraine’s war has accelerated innovation among Kyiv based firms like Venator, which previously unveiled Flycat in Europe and now courts Western partners at major shows. The through line is clear: autonomous, jam resistant loitering munitions are moving from niche to baseline requirement for land forces preparing for high electronic warfare intensity.
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Venator Technologies unveiled Flycat, a GPS-independent, X-wing loitering munition displayed at AUSA 2025 that pairs loitering-munition effects with automated, jam-resistant navigation. The compact, electric 12 kilogram airframe is built for light tactical teams and aims to deliver affordable, precision attritable strike options when satellite navigation is denied.
Washington, D.C, Oct 15 : According to information gathered by Army Recognition during AUSA 2025, the Venator’s Flycat is a ground target engagement system that marries loitering munition effects with fully automated navigation designed to survive electronic warfare. Army Recognition photographed the full scale display at AUSA 2025 in Washington, where drones and counter drone systems dominated the show floor and program chatter. The missile shaped airframe with distinctive X wings carries modular warheads and is built to prosecute targets even when satellite navigation is denied. The exhibit underscored how attritable precision strike is moving from urgent battlefield improvisation to export ready product families.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Flycat loitering munition is a GPS-independent, X-wing airframe with 40 km range/40 min endurance, 2.5–3.6 kg modular warhead, pneumatic launch and autonomous, EW-resilient target tracking (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
Flycat’s airframe is electric powered, quiet, and compact, a profile that fits light tactical teams. Manufacturer data lists a 12 kilogram takeoff weight and payload capacity between 2.5 and 3.6 kilograms, packaged in a fuselage roughly 1,350 by 1,340 by 800 millimeters. Endurance is 40 minutes with a stated 40 kilometer range, while operating altitude sits between 200 and 700 meters with a ceiling of 1,000 meters. Minimum speed is 70 km per hour, cruising at 85, with up to 120 in a terminal dive. The weapon is launched from a pneumatic catapult with a 20 minute readiness timeline, a practical detail for dispersed units that need to shoot and relocate before counter fires arrive.
By shifting lift and control authority off a conventional tail, the airframe can maneuver across all axes more aggressively than small airplane type drones, which matters during terminal attack against moving vehicles. Venator’s published concept allows Flycat to work alone or in tandem with a reconnaissance vehicle acting as both designator and communications repeater. The core of the design is independence from satellite navigation. Instead of GPS, Flycat relies on intelligent navigation and communications guidance modules that keep the weapon on route, autonomously track targets, and close for terminal effects even amid heavy jamming. Warheads are selectable high explosive, cumulative shaped charge, or thermobaric, in the 2.5 to 3.6 kilogram class, giving commanders the choice to penetrate armor, collapse structures, or neutralize personnel in defilade.
Flycat fills the gap between disposable FPV quadcopters and larger, costlier loitering munitions. A two person team can stage the catapult, program a route, and launch within minutes, then use the munition’s route following and autonomous target tracking to hunt soft skinned logistics vehicles, radar emitters, field artillery, or point defenses inside a 40 kilometer bubble. The electric motor reduces acoustic signature, while the ability to dive at 120 km per hour complicates last second countermeasures. Pairing with a scout platform extends line of sight links in broken terrain, while the GPS independent logic is a direct answer to the dense jamming now normal on the front lines.
The debut in Washington lands as the U.S. Army redoubles its search for affordable mass in unmanned strike and as AUSA 2025 showcases a surge of drone and counter drone offerings from primes and startups alike. Service leaders are openly pushing for faster procurement and cheaper attritable options, while the growth in drone incursions at U.S. bases underlines how rapidly the threat environment is evolving. In parallel, Ukraine’s war has accelerated innovation among Kyiv based firms like Venator, which previously unveiled Flycat in Europe and now courts Western partners at major shows. The through line is clear: autonomous, jam resistant loitering munitions are moving from niche to baseline requirement for land forces preparing for high electronic warfare intensity.
