U.S. Army Selects Teledyne FLIR Defense Rogue 1 Loitering Munition System for LASSO Program

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Teledyne FLIR Defense, part of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated, announced that its Rogue™ 1 loitering munition system has been selected by the U.S. Army for its Low Altitude Stalking and Strike Ordnance (LASSO) program.

Teledyne FLIR will deliver a variant of its Rogue 1 lethal UAS for LASSO. Launched in spring 2024, the U.S.-designed and built Rogue 1 already has been delivered to both U.S. Special Operations Command (Ground Organic Precision Strike Systems) and the U.S. Marine Corps (Organic Precision Fires-Light) for their current loitering munition programs.

As described in Army solicitation statements, the LASSO system is a man-portable, ground launched, lethal payload munition and uncrewed aerial system (UAS) with anti-armor capability for use by Infantry Brigade Combat Teams. LASSO is designed to deliver long-range precision strike fire with minimal collateral damage in complex environments.

“The precision and autonomy of the Rogue 1 platform make it ideally suited to achieve the Army’s goals for LASSO,” said Dr. JihFen Lei, President of Teledyne FLIR Defense and Senior Vice President of Teledyne’s Defense and Aerospace Group. “Rogue 1 leverages our expertise delivering battle-proven UAS technology, including the widely deployed Black Hornet® nano-drone, which we believe can be used with Rogue 1 in an unrivaled ‘hunter-killer’ combination.

“We’ll continue to work closely with the Army to help combat teams improve their mobility and lethality and achieve tactical overmatch against our adversaries,” Lei added.

Rogue 1 is a next-generation, optionally recoverable vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) UAS that enables warfighters to conduct precision strikes against moving and stationary armored targets, soft-skinned vehicles, and dismounted threats. The Rogue 1 system is light enough to be carried by a single Soldier in a single tube and does not require vehicle transport, nor a launcher, key features for Infantry forces.

Other features include advanced electro-optical and FLIR Boson® 640+ thermal cameras to deliver day/night long-range reconnaissance and surveillance. A novel coupling between sensors and warhead in its gimballed payload enables extremely precise targeting. With a greater than 30-minute flight time, burst speeds of more than 70 mph (113 kph), and range in excess of 12 miles (20 km), Rogue 1 was designed for today’s harsh battlefield conditions, including communication- and GPS-denied environments.

Teledyne FLIR will deliver up to 130 Rogue 1 components/systems to the Army for test and evaluation next summer. The contract has a two-year performance period.