Redwire Receives Follow-On Army Order to Sustain and Support Stalker Fleet
Key Facts
Redwire received a follow-on order from the First Aviation Brigade of the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence to sustain and support its Stalker unmanned aircraft fleet, according to a company statement cited by Reuters via Investing.com. The order is tied to an existing fleet and covers sustainment parts and operational support, without announcing a new contract value. The press release did not disclose the order’s financial terms, so no value was announced that could be measured or compared with previous orders. The announcement came on November 11, while available share data were from the November 10 session. Redwire shares, listed under the ticker RDW, closed at $8.13 on November 10, compared with a close of $8.15 on November 9, a slight decline between the sessions. These figures do not establish that the stock rose after the announcement.
The company said the order, which it received during the third quarter of its fiscal 2026, provides sustainment parts for the 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. The shipment includes hybrid lift batteries assembled in the United States for the Stalker system, aircraft the Army uses for training. This puts the delivery destination and its components at the center of the order: supporting a specific military unit with parts tied to operating the aircraft system. It is described as a follow-on order from the First Aviation Brigade, while the support will go to the specified battalion at Fort Huachuca. The company did not provide a specific delivery date in the published information.
Joshua Stinson, co-president and chief growth officer of Redwire Defense Tech, linked continued support to training soldiers on an aircraft he described as proven and reliable in real-world operations. He said, "Redwire's continued support of the U.S. Army ensures soldiers train on a proven aircraft they can rely on in real-world operations across diverse operational environments." The statement sets out the company's operational rationale for the order, linking supplies and training to soldiers' ability to use the system in different environments. The release is limited to describing support for and training on the Stalker fleet, without announcing a financial impact from the order or specifying its contribution to the company's revenue. The statement also did not set a new timeline for fielding the system or expand the scope of Army units benefiting from it.
Army aviation soldiers began training on the VXE30 Stalker system at Fort Rucker, Alabama, on November 18, 2025, ahead of the equipment entering service the following month, according to the U.S. Army. This sequence places the current training program in the context of preparations that began before the order announced on November 11, 2026. The Army uses the Stalker system in training unmanned aircraft operators, while the current follow-on order is for a unit at Fort Huachuca. The release did not say that Fort Rucker is the delivery site for the new order; it identified Fort Huachuca as the destination for sustainment parts for the 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment. The two locations mark a shift from the background on the start of training to details of the unit benefiting from the current order.
The Army described Stalker Block 35X aircraft as Group 2 unmanned aircraft designed to provide reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition for maneuver battalions. It said the system's open modular architecture enables the integration of new sensors, payloads and technologies, while the Long Range Reconnaissance program aims to provide those capabilities to the battalion. These functions explain the role of the training system supported by the sustainment parts, without the order statement adding details about any particular payload or sensor to be used at Fort Huachuca. Redwire also said Stalker training programs draw on operational lessons from hundreds of thousands of flight hours across six continents. The company said the system had been deployed on those continents and accumulated the cited flight hours with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.