AeroVironment Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) announced the company received a $20.2 million government investment to expand its Huntsville, Alabama facility for production of the Freedom Eagle-1 interceptor missile.

The 24,000-square-foot expansion will serve as the system-level integration, manufacturing and production hub for the Next-Generation Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System Missile. The facility will support Low-Rate Initial Production and future Full-Rate Production of the interceptor system.

The investment builds on AeroVironment's $95.9 million contract award under the U.S. Army's NGCM and Long-Range Kinetic Interceptor programs, executed through the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center and the Aviation & Missile Technology Consortium.

"Growing our presence in Huntsville places AV more firmly at the center of the Army's air and missile defense ecosystem, enabling tighter integration, faster iteration, and more efficient production at scale," said Wahid Nawabi, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

The Freedom Eagle-1 is designed as a low-cost interceptor capable of neutralizing Groups 2 and 3 unmanned aircraft systems while maintaining capability against Group 1 UAS, fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. The system has completed several development milestones including a live-fire demonstration of its dual-thrust solid rocket motor.

In March, AeroVironment received a $97 million contract to design and integrate prototype test environments for missile defense sensor testing at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. The company also announced a $30 million expansion of its Albuquerque, New Mexico campus.