Kratos vs. AeroVironment: Which One Actually Wins the Cheap-Drone-Swarm Pivot
The Pentagon's Replicator-era tilt toward low-cost, attritable drones doesn't lift Kratos and AeroVironment the same way — they sell to different services, at different margins, for different missions.
The mechanism. Since 2023's Replicator initiative, DoD doctrine has openly favored "attritable" — cheap enough to lose — autonomous systems over exquisite, low-volume platforms. That's not a slogan; it shows up in contract vehicles. The Army's Lethal Unmanned Systems IDIQ (up to $990M) and the new LASSO prototype program funnel money to loitering munitions. Separately, the Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft effort and target-drone budgets funnel money to expendable jet-powered platforms. Same word — "attritable" — two different buyers, two different aircraft, two different stock theses.
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