AeroVironment P550 Specs for the All-Battery Group 2 Drone

What AeroVironment Publishes for the P550

AeroVironment classes the P550 as an autonomous all-battery Group 2 eVTOL UAS with up to 15 lb (6.8 kg) of payload capacity and a maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) of up to 55 lb (24.9 kg).

The P550 datasheet lists a 40 km standard link range and up to 60 km with DDL range, depending on the ground control station (GCS) radio. The same datasheet lists 1-person operation and four published payload configurations.

Endurance varies by source. The datasheet says "Up to 5 hr," which is a ceiling. The P550 product page stat block says "5+ hours," and its body text says the P550 "sustains flight for over five hours," which is a floor.

AeroVironment's December 2025 contract release uses "up to 5 hours," matching the datasheet rather than the product page. For anyone planning a sortie, "up to 5 hours" and "over 5 hours" are different promises, and AeroVironment has published both for the same aircraft.

The Group 2 label places the P550 in the Department of Defense size classes described on the types of military drones page.

Full Published Specification From the Datasheet

The P550 datasheet, version 250422, lists a 17 ft (5 m) wingspan, a 9 ft (2.8 m) length and a speed band of 15 to 27 m/s (30 to 52 knots). It sets two altitude limits measured as density altitude (DA): a maximum flight DA of 14,000 ft (4,267 m) and a maximum launch DA of 10,000 ft (3,000 m). The launch limit is the lower of the two.

The product page lists aircraft dimensions as length, width and height of 17 ft x 9 ft x 2 ft (5.2 m x 2.8 m x 0.6 m). The 17 ft figure matches the datasheet's wingspan, but the metric conversion reads 5.2 m on the product page and 5 m on the datasheet.

The product page also places 17 ft in the length slot, while the datasheet gives length as 9 ft.

Payload Configurations and the 15 lb Capacity on the P550

AeroVironment publishes exactly four payload configurations for the P550, and all four draw on the same payload capacity of up to 15 lb (6.8 kg). The datasheet names each configuration.

AeroVironment publishes no individual weight for any of the four configurations. Without those figures, a reader cannot tell how much of the 15 lb any one configuration consumes or how much margin is left. An operator who needs to plan a payload fit cannot do so from published data and has to ask AeroVironment.

The P550 also accepts equipment from outside suppliers. The P550 datasheet describes a modular architecture that supports third-party payloads, radios and control options. The product page describes the same design as a modular open systems approach (MOSA) that accepts third-party payloads, datalinks, mission software and ground control systems.

• Baseline ISR: fits an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission inside the 15 lb capacity.
• Advanced ISR: gives an operator a second ISR option on the same airframe and the same 15 lb capacity. AeroVironment publishes no weight for it, so the datasheet does not show how much of the 15 lb it uses compared with baseline ISR.
• Guided munition: appears on the datasheet by name only. AeroVironment names no munition for this configuration and publishes no range, warhead or guidance figure, so a reader cannot judge what it can engage from published data.
• ISR/EW/relay: pairs ISR with electronic warfare (EW) and relay roles under one configuration name on the 15 lb capacity. AeroVironment publishes no weight for it, so the remaining margin is unknown.

All-Battery Endurance and the Tradeoff Against Fuelled Aircraft

The P550 runs on an all-electric propulsion system, and AeroVironment rates it for up to 5 hours of all-battery endurance on the datasheet. The datasheet frames that as a "low logistics footprint," which is AeroVironment's description of the design choice.

The AeroVironment JUMP 20, named on the same December 2025 foreign military sales (FMS) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) vehicle, runs a 190 cc MOGAS (motor gasoline) engine and is rated for 13+ hours, against up to 5 hours for the all-battery P550. AeroVironment publishes no battery data to plan that difference around.

Set-Up Time, Turnaround and Portability

The datasheet states the P550 is ready to fly in under 10 minutes, using tool-free connections for assembly and teardown. Mission turnaround takes under 5 minutes, using hot-swappable batteries and modular payloads. The product page repeats the field-change figure: payloads and batteries change in under five minutes with no tools.

AeroVironment describes the P550 as man-portable and transportable by High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) or Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) in durable vehicle, payload and GCS cases. The product page lists pack-out dimensions of 6 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft (1.8 m x 0.6 m x 0.6 m). That pack-out length is about one third of the 17 ft wingspan.

The P550 takes off and lands vertically under its own power, which the product page says removes the need for runways, catapults or launch gear. The fixed-wing vs multirotor drones page covers the airframe tradeoffs behind vertical takeoff on a winged aircraft.

Vision Navigation and Onboard Autonomy on the P550

The P550 datasheet pairs an integrated vision navigation system (VNS) with onboard autonomy software. The datasheet lists five modules in the VNS: a mission compute module, a VNS compute module, and VNS electro-optical (EO), infrared (IR) and laser range finder (LRF) sensors.

Because the stack combines electro-optical and infrared sensors with its own compute, the P550 can keep navigating when satellite navigation is unavailable. The datasheet links this capability to anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) operations. For A2/AD work, it credits two elements: mDDL-FH and advanced day-night visual-inertial odometry (VIO) navigation.

The datasheet does not expand the mDDL-FH abbreviation. A reader cannot tell from the published document what that element contributes beyond its listing next to VIO.

The datasheet also lists an advanced mission system that enables secure automatic target recognition (ATR) and autonomous missions. It names AVACORE and SPOTR-EDGE as the advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomy components. On the P550 product page, AeroVironment says the built-in autonomy executes complex flight profiles, handles the transition from hover to forward flight, and assists in object detection and classification.

For the operator, ATR and onboard classification move detection work onto the P550 instead. The datasheet rates the P550 as a 1-person operation. The autonomy features described above support that single-operator workload.

Both AeroVironment sources present the navigation and target-recognition functions as feature descriptions. Neither publishes a test result, accuracy figure, detection range or success rate for any of them. Anyone evaluating the P550 for operations without satellite navigation should request navigation and ATR performance data from AeroVironment directly, since the P550 datasheet does not include any.

Baseline and Future Ground Control Stations

The P550 datasheet lists two ground control stations on one row: "Vigilant Spirit GCS with Quattro STANAG 4586 (Baseline) & Kinesis GCS (Future)." A buyer reading that row is reading a roadmap, with Vigilant Spirit available as the baseline and Kinesis listed for later. The datasheet publishes no date for the Kinesis transition.

Datalinks on the datasheet are Silvus and DDL, and the 60 km upper link range depends on the GCS radio fitted. The product page adds that the open architecture accepts third-party ground control systems.

Group 2 Class Position and the 2025 FMS Contract

The P550 is one of the systems available on a five-year Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract worth up to $874.26 million that the U.S. Army Contracting Command awarded AeroVironment, according to AeroVironment's 8 December 2025 contract release.

The IDIQ supports future foreign military sales (FMS) through Program Executive Office (PEO) Aviation, letting allied and partner forces procure Groups 1 to 3 UAS and counter-UAS (C-UAS) systems.

The $874.26 million figure is the ceiling of the IDIQ vehicle. It is neither an order placed nor revenue, and the release publishes no P550 order quantity, per-aircraft figure or delivery schedule.

Systems available under the IDIQ are specific variations of the JUMP 20, P550, Puma, Raven and Titan C-UAS, plus training, initial spares packages and logistics support. The RQ-11 Raven and AeroVironment Puma pages cover two of those sibling aircraft. The release calls the P550 "AV's latest autonomous Group 2 eVTOL system."

The datasheet lists an IP-54 rating and an operating range of -4 to 122 °F (-20 to 50 °C). AeroVironment files the P550 under its Air, Land and Sea domains. The AeroVironment company profile covers the wider product line.

What AeroVironment Does Not Publish for the P550

AeroVironment publishes no unit price, system price or per-aircraft cost for the P550 on the product page or the datasheet. Several other planning figures are also absent from both sources:

• No operator list, country list, fielded quantity or program of record
• No battery model, capacity, battery count or recharge time
• No named munition, range, warhead or guidance figure for the guided munition configuration
• No individual weight for any of the four payload configurations
• No date for the Kinesis GCS transition
• No contract beyond the December 2025 FMS IDIQ, and no expansion of the "LRR" search term

What to Check Before Relying on the Published Figures

Before comparing the AeroVironment P550 with another Group 2 aircraft, open the P550 datasheet beside the P550 product page and write down which endurance figure and which wingspan conversion each source gives. Then send AeroVironment a written request for the per-configuration payload weights and battery data, since neither source answers those questions.

Both documents carry AeroVironment's note that every datasheet specification is subject to change.