US Army awards contract to Textron for loitering munition

The US Army has awarded Textron Systems a prototype contract under the Low Altitude Stalking & Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program to develop and demonstrate its Damocles loitering munition system. Damocles is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to loiter over targets and engage them by crashing into them, effectively functioning as a "kamikaze" drone. The system incorporates Textron’s GEN2 Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) technology and is built using a modular open systems approach (MOSA), allowing for integration of various payloads, including electronic warfare capabilities. Textron emphasizes safety features that prevent unexploded ordnance (UXO), aiming to reduce battlefield hazards, though specific details of these features were not disclosed. Textron Systems, a subsidiary of Textron, has a controversial history due to its past production of cluster munitions, specifically the CBU-105