에어로바이런먼트(AVAV) 2027 회계연도 1분기 실적 발표회: 사상 최대 수주 잔고 및 가이던스 재확인

핵심 요약

• 에어로바이런먼트는 자율 시스템 부문의 3억 4,600만 달러 실적에 힘입어 2027 회계연도 1분기 매출이 역대 최고치인 4억 8,000만 달러를 기록했다고 발표했습니다.
• 신규 수주는 6억 8,300만 달러를 기록해 분기 수주비율(book-to-bill) 1.4배를 달성했습니다. 확보된 수주 잔고는 직전 분기 대비 23%, 전년 동기 대비 37% 증가한 사상 최고치인 15억 달러를 기록했습니다.
• 조정 EBITDA는 5,300만 달러로 매출의 11%를 차지했습니다. 조정 희석 EPS는 전년 동기 대비 84% 증가한 0.59달러를 기록했습니다.
• 경영진은 2027 회계연도 매출 가이던스를 21억 2,500만~22억 2,500만 달러로, 조정 EBITDA 가이던스를 3억 500만~3억 2,500만 달러로 재확인했습니다.
• 약 4억 6,500만 달러 규모의 LOCUST E-HEL 수주 및 타이탄의 5억 달러 규모 단독 소스 IDIQ 계약을 포함해 드론 대응(Counter-UAS) 프로그램이 주요 계약 활동을 이끌었습니다.
• 에어로바이런먼트가 생산 능력을 확대하고 조기 발주 부품을 확보하기 위해 자본 지출과 재고를 늘리면서 잉여현금흐름은 마이너스 3,600만 달러를 기록했습니다.

핵심 재무 실적

조정 제품 매출총이익률은 36%에서 40%로 상승했습니다. 조정 서비스 매출총이익률은 주로 Cyber & Mission Solutions 매출 감소로 고정비 흡수율이 낮아지면서 13%에서 8%로 하락했습니다.

조정 판매관리비는 6,500만 달러에서 8,500만 달러로 증가했습니다. 이러한 증가는 인프라 및 사업 개발 투자, 법률 비용 증가, 일회성 대손충당금 420만 달러를 반영했습니다. R&D 비용은 2,400만 달러(매출의 5%)로, 전년 동기의 3,300만 달러(매출의 7%) 대비 감소했습니다.

사업 및 영업 실적

자율 시스템 부문은 전년 동기 대비 21% 증가한 3억 4,600만 달러의 매출을 기록하며 회사 전체 매출의 72%를 차지했습니다. 부문 내 정밀 타격 및 방어 시스템 매출은 배회성 자폭 드론, 단방향 공격 시스템, 드론 대응 RF 제품에 힘입어 8% 증가한 1억 9,700만 달러를 기록했습니다.

무인 항공기 시스템 매출은 71% 증가한 1억 2,000만 달러를 기록했습니다. P550, JUMP 20-X, 푸마 매출이 국내외 고객 전반에서 성장을 견인했습니다. 경영진은 1억 1,700만 달러 규모의 미 육군 P550 수주 물량 대부분이 2027 회계연도에 인도될 것으로 예상하고 있으며, 장거리 정찰 프로그램을 향후 수년간 약 10억 달러 규모의 기회로 보고 있습니다.

우주, 사이버 및 지향사에너지 부문 매출은 전년 동기 대비 21% 감소한 약 1억 3,400만 달러를 기록했습니다. 이러한 감소는 SCAR 계약 종료 및 기타 중단된 정부 프로그램을 반영합니다. 해당 부문은 물량 감소로 고정비 흡수율이 낮아지면서 900만 달러의 조정 EBITDA 손실을 기록했습니다.

드론 대응 분야는 신규 프로그램 모멘텀의 주요 동력이었습니다. 에어로바이런먼트는 LOCUST 지향사에너지 시스템에 대해 약 4억 6,500만 달러 규모의 미 육군 양산 계약을 수주했으며 첫 해외 LOCUST 상업 직접 판매를 발표했습니다. 타이탄 MS도 골든 돔 이니셔티브를 지원하는 초기 8,000만 달러 수주를 포함해 5억 달러 규모의 단독 소스 IDIQ 계약을 확보했습니다.

기타 수주 실적으로는 독일향 3,000만 달러 규모 푸마 계약, 미 육군향 5,100만 달러 규모 스위치블레이드 600 계약, 스카이레인지 플랫폼용 판타 위상 배열 안테나 통합 계약(4,300만 달러) 등이 포함됩니다.

에어로바이런먼트는 LOCUST용 앨버커키, 프리덤 이글-1용 헌츠빌, 배회성 자폭 드론용 솔트레이크시티, 엔지니어링 및 생산용 남부 캘리포니아 시설을 확장 중입니다. 회사는 남부 캘리포니아 사업장에 1억 달러 규모의 장기 투자를 발표했으며, 솔트레이크시티 캠퍼스는 2027년 봄 개장할 예정입니다.

경영진 가이던스

경영진은 다음과 같이 2027 회계연도 전망을 재확인했습니다.

매출은 상반기 약 45%, 하반기 55% 비중으로 분할될 것으로 예상됩니다. 조정 EBITDA는 연후반 물량 증가와 보다 유리한 판매 믹스를 반영해 상반기에 약 3분의 1, 하반기에 3분의 2가 집중될 것으로 예상됩니다. 조정 EPS는 약 30% 대 70% 비율을 따를 것으로 전망됩니다.

경영진은 수주 잔고가 연간 가이던스 중간값 기준 86%의 매출 가시성을 제공한다고 밝혔습니다. 타이탄 및 LOCUST 수주는 이미 전망에 반영되어 있습니다. 자본 지출 확대로 인해 2027 회계연도 잉여현금흐름은 마이너스를 유지할 것으로 예상되나, 내년에는 자본 투자가 보다 정상화된 수준으로 돌아갈 것으로 보입니다.

리스크 및 관전 포인트

미국 정부의 2027 회계연도 예산에 대한 의회 승인 시점은 경영진이 확인한 주요 단기 불확실성으로 남아 있습니다. 회사의 전망은 단기 임시지출결의안(CR)에 이어 12월경 국방예산이 승인되는 것을 전제로 합니다. 경영진은 현재 승인 시점이 가이던스에 중대한 리스크가 된다고 보지는 않지만, 지연이 길어지면 불확실성이 증가할 것이라고 밝혔습니다.

LOCUST 생산은 비교적 신생 공급망의 확장 및 조기 발주 부품 확보에도 의존합니다. 에어로바이런먼트는 수요를 뒷받침하기 위해 공급업체를 늘리고 앨버커키 생산 능력을 확장하고 있습니다.

연간 전망이 하반기에 치우쳐 있어 3분기와 4분기의 생산량 증대 및 판매 믹스 개선에 대한 실행 의존도가 높아집니다. 2분기에는 경영진이 덜 유리한 믹스와 자체 R&D 지출 증가로 인해 1분기 대비 조정 EBITDA가 압박을 받을 것으로 예상합니다.

Cyber & Mission Solutions는 프로그램 중단으로 고정비를 흡수할 수 있는 매출이 감소함에 따라 서비스 마진에 계속 부담을 주고 있습니다. 경영진은 신규 수주로 물량이 늘어나면서 개선될 것으로 기대하지만, 이 사업이 회사의 제품 프랜차이즈 성장률에 미치지는 못할 것으로 보고 있습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 하이라이트

• LOCUST 수익성: 경영진은 생산량이 증가하고 확정 고정가 계약 비중이 높아짐에 따라 하반기 이후 마진이 개선될 것으로 예상하고 있습니다. 와히드 나와비 CEO는 LOCUST 생산 확대에 추가 생산 능력과 공급업체 개발이 필요하겠지만, 약 1년 내에 연간 5억 달러 이상의 매출을 올리는 프랜차이즈가 될 수 있다고 말했습니다.
• 해외 지향사에너지 수요: 에어로바이런먼트는 중동, 아시아 태평양, 동유럽 전역에서 잠재적 수요를 확인하고 있습니다. 경영진은 미 육군의 선정과 미 연방항공청(FAA)의 승인이 해외 고객들의 광범위한 채택을 뒷받침할 수 있다고 밝혔습니다.
• 스위치블레이드 계약 잔여 한도: 분기 말 기준 현재 9억 9,000만 달러 규모의 미 육군 스위치블레이드 IDIQ 계약 한도 중 약 수억 달러가 남아 있습니다. 또한 경영진은 대외군사판매(FMS) 또는 직접 상업 채널을 통해 20개에 가까운 동맹국이 스위치블레이드 판매 승인을 받았다고 밝혔습니다.
• 프리덤 이글-1 일정: 에어로바이런먼트는 시험 및 인증 기간인 향후 12~18개월 동안 약 60~80대의 시스템을 인도할 것으로 예상합니다. 이후 초기 비율 및 본격 양산이 이어질 예정이며, 경영진은 이 미사일을 장기적으로 10억 달러 규모의 잠재적 프랜차이즈로 보고 있습니다.
• 공급망 입지: 경영진은 에어로바이런먼트 공급망의 98% 이상이 미국 국내에 위치해 있으며, 나머지도 미국의 주요 동맹국에 집중되어 있다고 말했습니다. 따라서 회사는 최근 발표된 드론 부품 관세가 부정적인 영향을 미치지는 않을 것으로 전망합니다.
• 해외 현지화 생산: 에어로바이런먼트는 그리스, 영국, 독일, 튀르키예, 대만에서 현지 파트너십과 사업을 개발하고 있습니다. 경영진은 조달 시 국내산 부품 또는 최종 조립을 요구하는 유럽, 중동, 아시아 태평양 지역에서 추가적인 현지화 추진을 예상합니다.

실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AeroVironment First Quarter Fiscal Year 2027 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please be advised that today's call is being recorded.

I would now like to hand it over to our first speaker, Denise Pacioni, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Denise Pacioni

Thank you, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to AV's first quarter fiscal year 2027 earnings call. My name is Denise Pacioni, Head of Investor Relations for AV.

Before we begin, please note that certain information presented on this call contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. Further information on these risks and uncertainties is contained in the company's 10-K and other filings with the SEC, in particular, in the risk factors and forward-looking statements portions of such filings. Copies are available from the SEC or on the AeroVironment website, www.avinc.com or from our Investor Relations team. This afternoon, we also filed a slide presentation with our earnings release and posted the presentation to the Investors section of our website under Events & Presentations.

The content of this conference call contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of today, September 9, 2026. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Joining me today from AV are Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Wahid Nawabi; and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Sean Woodward. We will now begin with remarks from Wahid Nawabi. Wahid?

Wahid Nawabi

Thank you, Denise. Welcome, everyone, to our first quarter fiscal year 2027 earnings conference call. I will begin today's call by summarizing our quarterly performance, followed by Sean, who will review our financial results in greater detail. After this, Sean, Denise and I will take your questions.

I'm pleased to report excellent first quarter results across several key financial performance metrics that meet or exceeded our expectations. AV reported first quarter revenues of $480 million with record-setting funded backlog of $1.5 billion as well as adjusted EBITDA of nearly $46 million and bookings of $683 million. These results reflect our focus on capturing key growth opportunities and our ability to execute with excellence. Building on our success from fiscal year 2026, we believe our first quarter results have positioned us well to deliver an even greater and stronger fiscal year 2027.

Before discussing the details of our strong results, let me first highlight some key achievements from the first quarter. First, we won several key contracts on franchise programs during the quarter that contributed to $683 million in bookings. These wins add to a strong bookings pipeline for both this fiscal year and beyond. Second, our funded backlog grew to a record $1.5 billion, which is 37% higher than the same period last year. Third, we achieved record first quarter revenue of $480 million. And fourth, we continue to advance our manufacturing capacity expansion plans across several of our platforms and products to support our strong growth over the next several years. With a strong quarter behind us and positive momentum carrying us into the second quarter, we are reaffirming our fiscal year 2027 revenue guidance of between $2.125 billion and $2.225 billion. And adjusted EBITDA guidance for fiscal year 2027 of between $305 million and $325 million. Both of our business segments are progressing well toward their fiscal year 2027 growth goals, supported by key domestic and international program wins and increased backlog and revenue contributions.

During the first quarter, our Autonomous Systems segment contributed $346 million or 72% of the total company revenue. While our Space, Cyber and Directed Energy segment contributed $134.5 million in revenue or 28% of the total company revenue, consistent with our plans for the quarter. Both segments contributed to the 25% increase in funded backlog from the prior quarter due to very strong order flow and several sole-source wins. Our total funded backlog now stands at $1.5 billion. Strong contract wins across multiple programs in both segments, particularly in counter-UAS, positions us for a record fiscal year 2027 and supports our progress towards long-term growth goals.

I would like to now walk you through some significant achievements since our last earnings call in each of our four main product areas, which are multi-mission ISR, precision strike counter-UAS and space and advanced technologies. Starting first with our multi-mission ISR product area. As we had mentioned on our last call. AB's P550 was selected for the U.S. Army's long-range reconnaissance program at the beginning of the first quarter with an award of $117 million. Successful integration into the U.S. Army's Next-Generation Command and Control System, or NGC2 and strong performance during recent field tests positioned the P550 as another key franchise program expected to drive future growth. We anticipate that LRR program to be a $1 billion program over the next few years.

Also during the quarter, AB was awarded a $30 million contract to deliver Puma AE and Puma LE systems for Germany's LARUS airborne reconnaissance program. This award represents one of the most significant European Puma procurement to date. In addition to these wins from our small UAS product line, our JUMP 20 and JUMP 20-X continue to make headways NAV's Group III or medium UAS offering. For example, our JUMP 20 recently received an NQ31A military designation from the Italian Ministry of Defense, formally recognizing AV JUMP 20 as an official military capability. This is a critical next step in the procurement process, enabling the Italian Army to accept deliveries of JUMP 20 and recognizing it as an element of its formal military inventory. With this recent announcement, JUMP 20 and JUMP 20-X have now won several international programs of record, just over the last 12 months alone.

Turning now to Precision Strike. We continue to see progress and momentum across several of our platforms within Precision Strike. Our comprehensive family of one-way attack, loitering munitions and launched effect products has the ability to meet our customers' immediate needs, while remaining adaptable to future requirements. Our recent Switchblade 400 award under the U.S. Army's low altitude stocking and strike ordinance or LASSO program is an example of EV's ability to quickly adapt our proven capabilities to meet new customer program requirements. Leveraging capabilities from both the Switchblade 300 and 600, AV Switchblade 400 is now a key solution set within the U.S. Army's LASSO program. Also during the quarter, AV received a $51 million U.S. Army contract for Switchblade 600, in support of a lethal unmanned systems, IVIQ.

Taken together, these two awards position AV as a long-term partner to the U.S. Army. With 20-plus brigade combat teams and 180-plus soldiers trained, these awards also reflect the U.S. Army's confidence in our solutions and our ability to deliver mission-critical capabilities at speed. Looking ahead, we are also seeing strong demand signals for our one-way attack solution, Red Dragon, and increased international demand in loitering munitions.

Turning now to our counter UAS portfolio. We're extremely excited about the progress we've made this past quarter with our multilayered counter UAS defensive systems. Both Titan and LOCUST systems received several awards this past quarter, which are strategic to the long-term growth of these franchise products. Just recently, we announced two significant wins for our market-leading counter UAS directed energy platform called LOCUST. As you recall, AV was awarded a landmark contract valued at nearly $465 million for the U.S. Army's enduring high-energy laser or E-HEL program in late August.

This award represents the first ever production contract for direct energy systems and U.S. military history. This is a defining moment, not only for our company but also for our customers, our country and the advancements of laser weapons technology as a critical tool in modern war pair. Following this announcement, we also announced our first international order for our LOCUST-directed energy counter UAS laser weapon system as a direct commercial sale. This order underscores the growing global demand for scaled high-energy laser weapon systems. As global threats continue to evolve and as asymmetric economics persist on the modern battlefield, directed energy has emerged as an increasingly important cost-effective solution for countering high-volume, low-cost drone attacks. Under $10 per shot, LOCUST redefines the cost balance between offensive and deepness of systems and provides the war fighter with an essentially unlimited magazine. We see these landmark awards as demonstrating the growing demand for LOCUST both in the United States and internationally and positions AV as a leader with the rapidly expanding directed energy market.

Building our momentum from these awards, we anticipate a growing pipeline of opportunities for our locust laser weapon systems, both domestically and abroad and look forward to sharing additional award progress with you in the coming quarters. In addition to these historic achievements with Direct Energy, Counter UAS, we also announced earlier in the quarter a major contract win for our RF detect into feed platform called Titan. Our Titan MS was awarded a sole-source $500 million IDIQ in support of joint Inter-Agency Task Force 401, domestic Shield program, which included an initial $80 million contract in support of the United States Golden Dome initiative.

Our Titan series of RF Jammers continue to be a market-leading solution in the world and a strong growth driver for the company, and we anticipate the use cases for its capabilities to continue to expand beyond traditional military applications. In addition to these two counter UAS program wins, we also announced the expansion of our Huntsville, Alabama facility in anticipation of additional demand for our Freedom Eagle-1 or FE-1 Kinetic INTERCEPT solution. Since winning the U.S. Army's long-range Kinetic INTERCEPT or LRKI program last year, our customer requested an accelerated production schedule, and we received additional congressional funding to support this acceleration of production and delivery of products on this program.

Our investments in capacity expansion will allow us to rapidly scale FE-1 manufacturing in order to meet the U.S. Army's urgent operational needs. This program is critical and selling critical operational requirements needed by our customers to combat low-cost drone threats.

Now let's look at the progress we made in our Space and Advanced Technologies Group. AV recently won a $43 million contract to integrate PANTHER, phased-array antenna on Sky Range platforms for hypersonic telemetry. This contract will enhance the nation's weapons testing capabilities and will help enable more frequent testing cycles and faster weapons development time lines, especially related to hypersonic equipment. These combined achievements across all four of our product categories during the first quarter demonstrate the breadth and capabilities of our products and solutions across the defense sector. With several of our products at an inflection point for multiyear sustained growth, we are focused on enhancing operational readiness. As we communicated at our Investor Day this past July, leading the sector in innovation has been and will continue to be a key priority for AV. The progress we made this past quarter demonstrates how that commitment is translating into meaningful customer wins and key franchise program awards across our diversified portfolio. As we build on this momentum, we're sharply focused on executing with excellence, increasing capacity, scaling production and delivering high-quality battle-proven solutions to our customers.

The investments we are making in fiscal year 2027 are designed to support future growth by positioning us to capture additional awards, expanding capacity across key sites scaling manufacturing with speed and efficiency and enhancing the resiliency of our supply chain. We are nearly 1/3 of the way into this fiscal year, and we're making significant progress towards achieving these goals. In fact, just after the close of our first quarter, we announced a $100 million long-term investment at our Southern California facilities to build a new state-of-the-art innovation center in campus. This new facility will consolidate operations and provide additional production capacity. In addition to this investment, we're also progressing on our Salt Lake City facility, where we plan to increase loading munitions manufacturing capability. This facility is expected to provide AV with the ability to meet increased demand across our Switchblade product lines well into the future, while also providing additional manufacturing capacity to support other products across our portfolio. This new state-of-the-art campus is on track for a spring of 2027 opening.

Earlier in the quarter, we also announced expansion efforts for our Albuquerque New Mexico facility where production is starting for our newly awarded locus contracts, along with additional future global demand. This facility is planned to be one of the world's largest and highest volume full rate manufacturing space for laser weapon systems used for defense applications. And as we mentioned earlier, we're also building our Huntsville, Alabama location for our Kinetic Intercept counter UAS solution, Freedom Eagle-1. These internally funded capacity expansion projects are specifically designed to keep pace with rising demand in both the near and long term. We expect that continued investment in our leading platforms will yield meaningful returns and drive long-term value creation.

Before turning the call over to Sean, let me summarize with the following comments. This past quarter was a great start to our fiscal year 2027. We delivered record first quarter revenues and funded backlog and won several landmark awards on franchise programs domestically and internationally and expanded production capacity across multiple U.S. facilities. Demand across our portfolio remains robust, and we were focused on executing with discipline as we invest in our business scaling manufacturing and stripping our supply chain to deliver for our customers at the speed their missions require.

With that, I would like to now turn the call over to Sean Woodward, for a review of our first quarter fiscal year 2027 financials. Sean?

Sean Woodward

Thank you, Wahid. I will now walk you through our first quarter performance and fiscal year '27 outlook, referring frequently to our press release and earnings presentation available on our website.

I am pleased to report a very strong start to fiscal 2027 with first quarter results meeting or exceeding several of our key financial targets. We exceeded our financial targets for the first quarter on revenue, adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS, while also achieving positive operating cash flow. We secured solid bookings of $683 million and ended the quarter with record funded backlog of $1.5 billion, up 23% from the prior quarter and higher by 37% from the same period last year. Relatively consistent unfunded backlog at $1.4 billion brought total funded and unfunded backlog at the end of the first quarter to approximately $2.8 billion. At the same time, we made significant progress on our capacity expansion initiatives that we expect will allow the company to quickly scale to meet expected increased global demand.

During the quarter, we announced several key capacity expansion efforts directly tied to growth on key franchise programs. First, we purchased and are looking to expand our existing facility in Huntsville, Alabama, to support near-term growth needed for our counter UAS kinetic INTERCEPT solution, Freedom Eagle-1. In addition, we recently announced a $100 million investment in our Southern California campus where we plan to improve execution on engineering, design and development alongside our production operations across multiple platforms. This investment will consolidate multiple existing lease facilities, resulting in an expected lower annual operating expenses. We are continuing to make progress on building out production in Albuquerque and New Mexico for our rapidly growing low discounter UAS solutions.

Besides these three capacity expansion investments, we are getting significantly closer to opening our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. This 120 square foot facility will allow for rapid scaling of our loitering munition products and provide additional space for other products that are facing increased demand. As discussed in detail at our July Investor Day, these investments directly support the strong demand we're seeing across our product portfolio. We look forward to sharing further progress on these facility expansions in the coming quarters.

Turning now to first quarter results. We secured bookings totaling $683 million in new authorized contract value. Our book-to-bill ratio for quarter 1 was 1.4x and reflecting strong demand from large program awards. Our trailing 12-month bookings exceeded $3 billion, representing a book-to-bill ratio of 1.5x. Total funded and unfunded backlog at the end of the first quarter was just over $2.8 billion.

Slide 6 of the earnings presentation shows the first quarter revenue by operating group, for each of our two segments compared to first quarter fiscal year '26 revenue. The Autonomous Systems, or AXS segment recognized $346 million in revenue in the quarter, which represented a 21% increase over first quarter of fiscal year '26 revenues. The Precision Strike and Defense Systems operating group generated $197 million in revenue in the first quarter, which represented an 8% increase over first quarter of fiscal year '26 revenues, driven by our loitering munition family, along with our one-way attack system and counter-UAS RF technique products.

The Uncrewed Aircraft Systems operating group generated $120 million in revenue in the first quarter, higher by 71% from the same period last year, led by strong domestic and international sales in P550, JUMP 20-X and Puma. The Space Cyber and Directed Energy segment generated $134 million in the quarter 1 revenue, down 21% year-over-year and in line with our expectations, reflecting the first quarter revenue loss from the scar contract termination, which occurred in March of this calendar year and other discontinued government programs.

Within the segment, the space and directed energy operating group sales declined 28% year-over-year due to discontinued carbon. For reference, scar-related revenue was $32 million during first quarter '26. The Cyber & Mission Solutions revenue declined 16% year-over-year, primarily due to discontinued government programs.

Moving on to gross margins. Slide 12 shows the adjusted product and service gross margin reconciliation to GAAP gross margin. First quarter overall adjusted gross margins of 30% were higher than first quarter '26 results of 29%. Quarter 1 adjusted product gross margin was solid at 40% compared to 36% for the first quarter '26. Quarter 1 adjusted service gross margin was 8%, which was lower than the 13% for the first quarter of fiscal year '26. The reason for the decline in quarter 1 service margin was related to our Cyber Mission Solutions business. Specifically, we experienced approximately $5 million in revenue impact from discontinued programs combined with other [indiscernible] and award delays, which made it more challenging to absorb fixed costs.

Moving on to operating expenses. Adjusted SG&A, which excludes intangible amortization and deal and integration costs, was $85 million compared to $65 million in the prior year. The increase was in line with our expectations, driven largely by key investments in infrastructure, along with expanded business development resources to assist in capturing growing global demand. Additionally, we incurred increased legal expenses and an unexpected nonrecurring bad debt reserve of $4.2 million in the quarter. As a percentage of revenue, adjusted SG&A in the quarter was 18%, compared with 14% in quarter 1 of fiscal '26. Full year fiscal '27 adjusted SG&A is projected to be between 14% and 16% of revenue. Quarter 1 R&D expense was $24 million or 5% of revenue compared to $33 million or 7% during the same quarter in the prior year. Full year fiscal '27 R&D is projected to be between 7% and 9% of revenue, in line with prior guidance. In terms of adjusted EBITDA.

Slide 13 of our earnings presentation shows the reconciliation of GAAP net income to adjusted EBITDA. Quarter 1 adjusted EBITDA reached $53 million or 11% of revenue. ASS segment adjusted EBITDA was $62 million for the first quarter of fiscal year '27 with an 18% adjusted EBITDA margin, reflecting strong revenue and gross margin contributions. This was partially offset by SCDE segment adjusted EBITDA, which was negative $9 million, which was expected following lower year-over-year revenue and resulting under absorption of fixed costs in both the Space and Direct Energy and Cyber & Mission Solutions businesses.

Now turning to non-GAAP earnings per share. Slide 11 shows the reconciliation of GAAP and adjusted or non-GAAP diluted EPS. Adjusted EPS reached $0.59 in quarter 1, up from $0.32 in the prior year quarter or an 84% year-over-year increase.

Moving to the balance sheet. At the close of the first quarter, our total cash investments amounted to $607 million, a $38 million decrease from the prior quarter. AMB Total debt composed only of 0 coupon convertible notes of $747.5 million and a net leverage ratio of 1.6x adjusted EBITDA. The company generated $13 million of positive operating cash flow in the first quarter despite making strategic working capital investments, primarily from higher unbilled receivables and inventory. The increase in inventory is intentional, supported by a record funded backlog and to ensure key critical components with long lead times are secured. As expected, free cash flow was negative $36 million in quarter 1, reflecting higher capital investments to support the expansion of our production facilities. We are still targeting fiscal year '27 to be negative from a free cash flow perspective, driven by the increased capital expenditures.

Now turning to backlog. Funding backlog totaled $1.5 billion at quarter end, which is 37% higher than the first quarter of fiscal year '26. Funding backlog composition by segment is $1.1 billion or 75% attributable to the AXS segment and $358 million or 25% to the [ FEEE ] segment. Unfunded backlog at the end of the first quarter was $1.4 billion, was $1.2 billion or 89% attributable to the SCDE segment and $157 million or 11% to the AFS segment. It's important to note that our unfunded backlog figures exclude ceiling values from sole-source IDIQ contracts. The remaining balance on the $990 million U.S. Army Switchblade contract, the remaining balance on the $874 million UAS and Counter U.S. SMS contracts and the remaining balance on the $500 million GIA-401 counter USRF contract, among others, represents significant additional contract capacity beyond our reported unfunded backlog figures.

Turning now to fiscal year '27 guidance. On Slide 7 of the earnings presentation, you will see we are reiterating our fiscal year 2027 guidance. Based on our strong Q1 performance, record funded backlog position and capacity investments underway, we remain confident in our full year outlook. As Wahid mentioned in his remarks, we continue to expect fiscal year '27 revenue to be between $2.25 billion and $2.225 billion, representing 10% growth at the midpoint of our fiscal year '26 results. We continue to expect adjusted EBITDA to be between $305 million and $325 million, and non-GAAP adjusted EPS between $3.02 and $3.34. Near term, non-GAAP adjusted pace remains relatively flat year-over-year due to higher anticipated depreciation and cloud amortization expenses for the significant capital deployed in fiscal year '26 and expected in fiscal year '27.

A few details on the revenue cadence, adjusted EBITDA profile and non-GAAP EPS distribution. We continue to expect revenue to be stronger in the second half of fiscal year '27. We're planning on an approximate 45-55 revenue split between the first half and second half. Following this revenue cadence, we expect adjusted EBITDA to be roughly 1/3 in the first half and 2/3 in the second half of the year. This is similar to the fiscal year '26 results from a distribution perspective and reflects improved sales mix and higher sales volume in the back half of the year. Non-GAAP EPS is anticipated to be roughly 30-70 split between the first half and second half. This reflects the adjusted EBITDA profile and the impact from depreciation expense and stock-based compensation timing. We continue to expect to invest between 7% and 9% of revenue in R&D and 12% to 14% of revenue and CapEx, primarily focused on production capacity expansion across all our product lines, supported by our total backlog.

Adjusted SG&A expenses are projected at 14% to 16% of revenue. In closing, we are very encouraged by our first quarter performance and the strong foundation it provides for fiscal 2027. We delivered a result above several of our key financial targets, generated solid bookings and continued to make disciplined investments in the production capacity and innovation needed to support growing demand across our portfolio. With total backlog of approximately $2.8 billion and revenue visibility to the midpoint of our full year guidance at 86%, we believe the business is well positioned for the balance of the year. Importantly, our recent counter yuans award including Titan and LOCUST are already incorporated into our fiscal 2027 outlook. As we continue to scale the business, we remain focused on execution, capacity expansion and long-term value creation in markets where we see sustained demand and favorable multiyear growth tailwind.

Now I'd like to turn things back to Wahid.

Wahid Nawabi

Thanks, Sean. As Sean stated earlier, we are reaffirming our fiscal year 2027 guidance. While we remain optimistic and encouraged by the urgency plays for our solutions and the Department of War budget. There remains some uncertainty around the timing of final budget approval by U.S. Congress. Our view is unchanged from last quarter, and we do not expect this to be a significant risk to our outlook at this time. Whether it is something we will continue to monitor closely.

In closing, we're very pleased with the progress we made during this past quarter. We won several significant awards, which increased our revenue visibility for fiscal year 2027 and provide a strong foundation for growth in the future. We remain focused on execution as we work to meet the growing demand in our markets with strong momentum across our portfolio and significant opportunities ahead, we believe the long-term potential for growth and value creation at EV has never been better and stronger. I would like to thank our employees shareholders and customers for their continued commitment to AV and our mission.

And with that, Sean, Denis and I will now take your questions.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Andre Madrid from BTIG.

질의응답

Unknown Analyst

This is actually Ned Morgan on for Andre. I was just wondering, how should we think about LOCUST profitability? And what could the recent awards mean for CDE margins over the longer term?

Wahid Nawabi

So Ned, great question. As you know, we're at an inflection point in the segment to profitability profile and products that are being commercialized. The LOCUST product line is going -- it is expected based on the contract wins that we have and the future ones that we expect to win, to have a very strong margin profile going towards the second half of this year and beyond. That's why, as you heard from Sean and the comments on our guidance that the profitability is stronger and more lopsided towards the second half of the year. It's because a lot of the locust and a few other products in that segment is going to have higher volumes as firm fixed price contracts take over and the margin profile improves significantly. We expect the Locus product line and the segment margin profile to eventually get to the same model of the segment on over the next couple of years. So it is an infection are. We're growing very fast in that market. We're working on markets and solution sets that is going to set us up for multibillion dollar opportunities over the next several years. And as we said at the beginning of the year, as our plan was to continue to transition those into more mature production, high-volume direct commercial times, firm fixed price contracts, all of which is going to improve the margins.

Unknown Analyst

Got it. And then maybe staying on LOCUST, are you able to comment on what your current production capacity is? And then what do you see as a sustainable steady rate production rates?

Wahid Nawabi

Well, so Andre, we are winning, as you see, some landmark contracts. The entire laser weapon systems, the directed energy laser weapon system market is essentially starting to begin to evolve now. The adoption rate and the knee on this -- on this curve is very steep. However, the supply chain and the suppliers that provide systems, subsystems for this is quite young, and we're scaling them and improving them as we go. That's why we made a significant investment in our Avoca [indiscernible] Mexico facility, to expand production. We are confident that we're going to meet the rising demand. It will not surprise me in about a year or so that this is a significant franchise for the company, well over $0.5 billion plus a year franchise. That has been part of our strategy when we acquired BlueHalo. We are making solid progress, and we're making solid progress also in terms of increasing production capacity. However, having said all that, it takes some time. There's lots and lots of long lead items. We have to do to get those in-house and scale those suppliers. We're bringing on more suppliers. It's a fairly large system, but we are sitting in a very, very good position. I mean I expect this product line to be a franchise flagship franchise for the company essentially competing with anything else that we do in the business in terms of revenue, profit profile and scale.

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of Louie DiPalma from William Blair.

Louie Dipalma

Ethan and Sean, congrats again on the EHA contract.

Wahid Nawabi

Thanks, Louie.

Louie Dipalma

I was wondering, you recently announced an international direct commercial sale shortly after the e-Health contract. And in terms of the total addressable market, how do you view the size of potential international sales relative to domestic sales. I know following the Ukraine war, you've been able to sell many Switchblade 300 and 600 to allies and you have a long history of selling the Raven and Puma to allies, but how do you view the international market for the laser weapon system?

Wahid Nawabi

Thank you, Louise. Yes, we're very pleased with these recent awards, as you said, not only do we win this marquee franchise contract and program with U.S. Army for $0.5 billion nearly. We also won and we announced a direct commercial sale for the first laser weapon systems that we are aware of to an international ally. We expect this to be the beginning of a lot more awards, Louie, number one; and number two, the market for these local systems domestically and internationally are going to the equipment powered size. You saw domestically, we've already won $0.5 billion contract, and we're going to -- we're engaged with several additional customers. And I think it's the beginning of this inflection point of adoption for the U.S. military, but beyond that, I see equivalent, if not more demand for these systems internationally. There's lots of places in the world, including the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe that could benefit from our systems because the solutions that exist today cannot economically be sustainable and sustain a long-term conflict where thousands if not tens of thousands of these group 1, 2, 3 drones are coming, and we're shooting million-dollar missiles at them. LOCUST solves that problem, both in terms of economics and depth of magazine. It's very, very unique in that perspective. So I tend to believe that there's a multibuilding market just for military application. If you fast forward this strategy 2 to 3 years later, I could also see nondefense applications for critical infrastructure sites. That could become available and suitable for adoption of our laser wait systems. And AV is unique because we're one of the very few companies in the world that have gone to a full rate production of systems that are deployed now in the battlefield today. That is a very unique position, and that's why we're expanding capacity because we think over the next several years, this could be a massive growth driver and value cation opportunity for the company.

Operator

Our next question will come from line of Peter Arment from Baird.

Peter Arment

Sean, good to talk to you. Wahid, could you give us an update on kind of like you won some very large IDIQ contracts supporting the Switchblade production. Where do we stand on what's left in those vehicles? And what -- could you give us an update there?

Wahid Nawabi

Sure. So as you know, our win rate and our progress over the last several quarters has been phenomenal. I can't think of another time in the last 16-plus years I've been with the company, that we've had such tremendous track record of winning large strategic contracts. We've gone -- we had a lot of great years, but these are very unique years, and I think this is going to continue. In terms of what's remaining, there's lots of different contracts. Sean has the details on that. In general, there's several contracts that we have. There is a nearly $1 billion U.S. Army IDIQ sole source that we won, which is coming towards a full of value. And then we have an international one that's actually barely scratched the surface in terms of how much of that we've used. And then we also are working on additional contracts with other customers. Sean?

Sean Woodward

Yes, Peter. We have a couple of hundred million left on the current $990 million IDIQ under the current ceiling value remaining.

Peter Arment

Got it. That's great. That's great detail. And then just as a quick follow-on. Just congrats on the P550 award. What's the next, I guess, what's the path for those 82 aircraft when you'll be delivering those? And is there another competitive down like we should be thinking about?

Wahid Nawabi

Sure. So as you know, the LRR program record that the U.S. Army has is expected to be about $1 billion value long term over the next several years. We are getting the lion's share of the awards. I believe it's between us and one of the competitors, well, we know that for fact, based on the U.S. Army's announcement. We're essentially getting where over 80% of the dollars of those awards so far, maybe close to 90% of the awards. We're actively delivering those systems as we speak. And we expect to deliver the vast majority of that contract this fiscal year, almost all of that $117 million this year, this fiscal year. That's why we've been ramping up production, that's why you've been making systems. And by the way, the most important factor for me besides us delivering is that the success of the product in the field, the satisfaction of the war fighter when they get our systems in their hand versus our competition is incredibly high, and credibly high. What does that mean? It means when the customer and the warfighter uses our product in the battlefield, and our systems work and deliver as promised and if not even more, and our competitors don't, the future acquisitions will be affected by that. It's natural. It's very common for that to happen. And so we expect the U.S. oil to continue to award more contracts as we go forward because they're just starting the fulfillment of that program, which is close to $1 billion over the next several years. And I think we're in a very good position, and I'm very thankful and appreciative of what our team has done, works so hard to get us at this stage.

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of Jonathan Siegmann from Stifel.

Jonathan Siegmann

Congratulations on the orders. Maybe just to touch a little bit on cyber mission. $83 million for the quarter. We were glad to see some sequential growth from the second half of last year. That might suggest year-over-year growth might be possible in the back half of the year. Are there any headwinds strengthening or anything else that we should keep in mind when thinking about that subsegment?

Wahid Nawabi

John, so look, we're fortunate because we have a very diversified portfolio of products, solutions, businesses and groups of the business units as well. The cybersecurity and mission service is a fairly small part of our growth this year. We don't expect that to be at the same pace of growth as the rest of the businesses. We're making significant improvements there. It is not the main thesis of our strategy for growth for long-term value creation either. And so we've got plenty of growth, as you saw for this quarter on many, many other fronts. 7 or 8 different product lines platforms that are at inflection points to grow very, very handsomely, not only this year but the years to come. So -- but overall, we do expect that the financial profile of that business to improve. The growth in that business has never been expected to be as high as the rest of our businesses, but it's just a portfolio approach to our business, a diversified portfolio, and we're making progress. We're pleased with the results so far. We're going to continue to actually work on it. You should see more improvements financially in that business, but it's not going to have the kind of growth as the rest of the business because we were expecting that to begin from the beginning of this business. It's just not the same kind of a market, and the profile of that business is very different. However, for the year, we remain very focused on growing the entire business. As we said -- as Sean said on the guidance, 10% to the midpoint of our guidance range, year-over-year organic growth. We're looking fairly good, and we're positioned extremely well, and we came out the first quarter extremely strong.

Jonathan Siegmann

That's really helpful. And was there any deviation on the timing that you expected on these awards? Was anything slower? Or just kind of wondering -- the question we're getting is why you didn't raise. So just hoping to couch on maybe some of the things that didn't go your way if things are just happening a little bit slower than you thought?

Wahid Nawabi

So John, that's a great question. We've asked ourselves that question several times, right? We believe that we've got a lot of work coming our way. There is one thing that's really uncertain about the market today, which is the timing of the fiscal year government fiscal year 2027 budgets. We have an election year, a lot of elections and uncertainty within Congress. That by itself represents a significant potential risk. We don't believe that's going to affect our current guidance, and it's only our first quarter. We just came out of the gate on our first quarter. We're positioned extremely well. And as things progress over the next quarter or so, we'll keep you updated. The long story for AV and the growth potential is fantastic. We -- I can genuinely tell you that for the years that I've been here, the rate of wins that we're having and strategic progress we're making in several strategic areas of our platforms and franchises, is positioning us for lots and lots of fantastic growth and value creation opportunities beyond fiscal '27. That's where we're focused on long-term value shareholder value creation. And I think we're on the right track in that set of the business.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Seth Seifman from JPMorgan.

Seth Seifman

Just wanted to ask, in the uncrewed systems business, we saw some strong results and pretty much no change relative to the fourth quarter, even though there's usually a meaningful seasonal step down. Anything kind of pulled forward there? Or any reason we wouldn't expect sales there to grow off of the Q1 level?

Sean Woodward

Seth. Yes. So the Uncrewed Aircraft Systems business performed exceptionally well in the first quarter, 71% year-over-year increase expected to continue with a significant growth this fiscal year excluded in our guidance. The strong awards that we got on P550, the increasing in the JUMP 20-X, a strong come sales that we're seeing both domestically and internationally all led to that sustained growth, and we expect to continue to see growth in this business throughout the next few quarters.

Seth Seifman

And then maybe as you think about the directed energy franchise growing to that sort of -- I think it was about $0.5 billion range. How do you think about the -- do you think about that as sort of a small number of relatively chunky orders? Do you think about it as having a large number of customers with a large number of smaller orders. When you look at it, kind of how that market evolves, how do you foresee that breakdown?

Wahid Nawabi

Seth, that's a great question. I'm going to all that out. This is Wahid. What I would tell you is that I'll go back in history, right? 4, 5 years ago, when the Ukraine conflict started, it was an inflection point in our royalty munition in one-way attack drone market as a whole. The entire market was tiny, very small. And what we saw in Ukraine collect that the use and the efficacy of drones in one-way attack drone, especially made a phenomenal impact and war fighting basically changed forever as a result of it. I think we're a similar inflection point on directed energy and counter UAS. All the weapon systems and defeat mechanisms that the U.S. has and all like as basically everyone in the world to address high-volume attacks by one-way attack loans, is economically not sustainable. We cannot continue to shoot down a $100,000, $150,000 Shahed drone with $1 million, $5 million to $10 million missile. It's just not sustainable against countries like China and Russia in the long run. The street full on that is a direct energy system that has an unlimited magazine of firepower and it changes the paradigm in economics from millions of dollars per shot to literally less than $10 a shot. That's what our LOCUST system offers today. That's why we won the first program record for pulp production in the U.S. Military's history. I can see in the next 5 years that, that business could be bigger than our loading munition business. That business grows to over $0.5 billion already over the last 4 or 5 years. And I think the market for laser weapon systems and direct energy is at least as big, if not bigger, globally. And we're just at the beginning of that adoption just at the beginning. And it's going to take some time because the U.S. Military has been working on us and all of our competitors for literally 3 to 4 decades. And we're the first company, to our knowledge, that has really cracked the code and is delivering systems that at scale that is actually effective and complex today. In the Middle East and Ukraine and other plots of the world, including the southern border. And so I consider this to be an inflection point. And over the next several quarters of the year, this business could grow dramatically for AV and the market is very large, long term.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Austin Bohlig from Needham.

Austin Bohlig

Congrats on the solid results. Just wanted to spend a quick question on the current funding environment. Just given the Q1 strong results seems like things are picking up. Just curious if we could get a sense of like with the record funding or money that was appropriated in fiscal '26. Do you have a sense of how much of that is yet to be deployed as we get into the second half of the year?

Wahid Nawabi

Yes, Austin. So look, we have a great start on this fiscal year. We reaffirm the guidance because the visibility levels that Sean articulated which is historically very high. We should be able to achieve the outcomes that we have in front of us. That's why we reaffirmed our guidance for [indiscernible] scale. The biggest, what I call question mark is how fast can Congress approve the next fiscal year's budget. It's really not that relevant, whether it's $1.3 billion or $1.5 trillion, I'm sorry, or $1.8 trillion, whatever the number ends up being, as long as the budget gets approved and most likely it will be not less than this government fiscal year. I think it will be defined for AV because there are categories that we play in is significant dollars, okay? Now the timing of that is delivered at a risk. We don't consider that to be a risk for our current guidance. But if that were to go longer, then obviously the risk profile increases, and we're going to keep you updated. But -- and so that's number one. Number two, the reason why we're ramping up production and several of our products and several of our sites is because we're getting ready for a potential seen where the government is going to get the money and whoever can deliver at scale reliably and effectively most likely with a benefit. We have benefited from that in the past, and we're positioning ourselves for that this year as well. And so that's the reason why we're aggressively and judiciously investing in areas that we believe will have solid returns for our company, not only that this fiscal year for years to come.

Austin Bohlig

Okay. Great. And then a quick follow-up, just on the recent announcements around tariffs and drone components. Just curious on what the impact could be to your guys' business.

Wahid Nawabi

So yes, the tariffs, of course, was a welcomed decision by our government in the Pentagon as well as the President. We do not see that as a negative impact on us. If anything, we consider that to be a positive. Why? The reason why is because over 98% of our supply chain and supply base is all domestic. We do not rely on export -- imports from foreign countries, especially in countries like China for any ore systems, any of our systems, okay, number one. The other 2% or so of our supply base are the closest allied in the United States, Canada, Germany, Israel, et cetera, et cetera. So we're in a very good position because we've been working on this problem ahead of the decisions, years and against. As part of the AV DNA, when we develop capabilities and reach a secure supply chain that we secure those with multiple sources and as much as possible domestically. That's a competitive and a explode. And so we don't expect that to get a negative impact, and it could be a positive impact because we can deliver cost effectively where the competitors have to actually adjust to that.

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of Peter Skibitski from Alembic Global.

Peter Skibitski

Congrats on E-HEL for sure. Yes. I was wondering if you could update us, something we haven't heard in a while is just you used to update us on the number of countries you've been approved export systems to, maybe Switchblade, but new programs like [ Maven10, Red Dragon, maybe P550, ] I don't know if you had those at hand. I just wonder what we're up to in terms of the approved country list on some of those programs?

Wahid Nawabi

Yes. So Pete, a vast majority of our voting munition and precision strike systems have been domestic demand in orders that we've gotten, as Sean mentioned, on the $990 million plus U.S. Army contract for oil ammunition. That vast majority of that is domestic consumption. Some of it U.S. is taken to get to some of our allies, but majority of it is U.S., right? A lot of the growth in demand for Switchblade in the next second half of this year and also beyond this fiscal year, most of lately going to come from countries outside U.S., who we've been working with to get them to procure these systems in a water contract. We have announced a few of those, but there's a list of close to 20 different countries, allies that we've been approved for both FMS and DCS sales. The list is pretty large. And you will see awards to come in as we progress throughout this year and next year that is going to continue to grow the international adoption of Switchblade and movie munition and the other platforms that we have in the precision strike over the next several quarters and years. So I think you're definitely onto something that that business is going to continue to grow. The domestic demand has -- it really has been the dominant factor in growth so far, and it's going to shift a little bit more towards international demand. And it's still going to be a significant contributor to growth for AV overall for this year and next year.

Peter Skibitski

Okay. Great. I appreciate that. Just last one for me. You talked about the Army LRKI maybe wanted to accelerate that. What do you think you kind of finish the test and certification phase and then enter production on that program?

Wahid Nawabi

So great question, Pete, because our strategy for counter UAS is not a one-pronged strategy. It's a layered defense approach. A layer defense system means that, first, we use the world's best genres to our Titan Series, which is one of our fastest-growing product lines and franchises, to be able to defeat drones that use RF communication. When that doesn't work, then you apply our laser weapon systems called focus. And if that doesn't work, then you go to their last resort, which is you use a kinetic missile or weapon to shoot down any drone that's from group 1 to 3. Today's arsenal of U.S. weapon systems and missiles, does not have an economically viable solution to attack, to address this problem. That is precisely the reason why this is a strategic priority for the U.S. Army. U.S. R&D wants us to go faster because they recognize that if they continue to shoot $1 million missiles at $100,000 to $150,000 Shahed, it's not going to be economically sustainable. So Congress actually provided us with additional funding just accelerate. We are aggressively attacking that. That's part of the investments we're making in our Huntsville facility. We have the support of Congress. We have the support of the U.S. Army, and we have the support of the Pentagon to accelerate that. We have won that, and it's our chance to actually build another franchise product line for AV. This year and next year, we're going to be in the rapid testing and certification of the missile. It's literally a brand-new missile for the U.S. military. And we are expected to deliver about 60 to 80 systems over the next 12 months or so to 18 months. And then once that is completed, then we're going to get into an initial rate lowering production and full rate production. The full rate production of that missile is going to be a $1 billion franchise long term. And that's probably about about 12 months away from now, given what it takes to get to that level over the next 12 to 18 months.

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of Trevor Walsh from Citizens.

Trevor Walsh

Sean, maybe I'll start with you. I understand -- I appreciate the color around the gross margin on the services business. Is that really just going to be a function, or I guess how long is that going to stick with us in terms of that being a bit of a drag? Is it really just until the revenues come back to kind of cover the headcount, or are there other kind of dynamics maybe over the next couple of quarters that you guys can shift things around, so that's not as much of a factor. Just any additional color you can provide there would be great.

Sean Woodward

Yes, Trevor. Great question. Yes. So the services margins, we did see a downtick in quarter 1 compared to last year, mainly driven by the volume and the reduction in the overall business volume of our services revenue, with the Star contract being [indiscernible] of that revenue not being able to absorb the fixed costs. We saw the reduction in the gross margin as the volume increases through some of the key awards that we're expecting to be delivering on and the overall services revenues increase, we expect the margins to improve slightly. Services margin isn't really where we're focused on growing overall margins, really the transition to products and commercialization of our products is really where the expansion of our overall EBITDA is going to come from. But near term, the volume will be the major driver to improve the margins on the services side.

Trevor Walsh

Got it. Okay. Great. Super helpful. Wahid, the LOCUST, E-HEL announcement included some commentary around some of the FAA approvals and such for using of directed energy domestically. Our understanding of E-HEL was that it was going to be a little bit more field-centric, deployed on vehicles, kind of more overseas austere environments, et cetera. Can you just maybe give us a little bit of perspective of how that deal can actually help to kick-start efforts here for more Homeland defense when, again, I'm presuming that those X3 are going to be more, again, forward deployed and just kind of give us maybe a little bit more sense of how one opportunity kind of leads to the next?

Wahid Nawabi

Sure, Trevor. So great question again. The E-HEL program is the first-ever program to our knowledge, where the U.S. military is awarded a contractor of full rate, high-volume production of our laser weapon systems to be institutionalized within the force structure. The initial deployment of this is going to be on critical sites that the U.S. Army has. But we believe that this is the beginning of an inflection point. We're actively working with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. SOCOM and also a lot of other international customers. In the first time in the history of United States military, we witnessed in the last several week months, the Secretary of the war, Mr. Hegseth, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, who have now become believers in using our local systems in the field, shooting down drones, shooting down drones, shooting down in a realistic real-life test environments. This is an inflection point in this business and in this category. U.S. has been chasing this for 3-plus decades. And we're the first company that's actually basically made, I believe button -- for them to push that I believe button. And so I think it's the inflection point. Yes, initially, the program was structured to put on vehicles, moving targets immediately after the event that happened in the southern border, the FAA said we can test these things to make sure it's safe to operate these and the national airspace domestically. It will [indiscernible] the United States. And our system is the first system to our knowledge that has actually been endorsed by the FAA that is safe to operate in national aerospace and it does not pose harm to commercial airlines and airplanes, manned airplanes. And so we're very pleased with that because the government and the agencies that are involved in this are moving very, very fast. But it's still a beginning. There's still the beginning. We expect additional wins, hopefully, over the next several quarters, and we'll keep you updated. We're in inflection point.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Austin Moeller from Canaccord.

Austin Moeller

Sean. So just my first question here on the locus laser weapon system. So 300 cartel drugs have been shot down year-to-date at the border. And the FAA has approved your system. So if we think about the DHS budget for which there's $70 billion in reconciliation that was approved back in June. When do you think that might start coming out in the RFP process? What kind of conversations are you having there?

Wahid Nawabi

Austin, again, a fantastic commentary question. bad DHS opportunity and problem is a significant one, but it's not the only one. We're engaged with several, several customers. As I said, the, I believe, button has been pushed now in several fronts on direct energy laser open systems, and especially the sweet spot that we're in, which is between 15 to 30-kilowatt system is the sweet spot of the market, lots and lots of applications. The specifics that you actually shared about 300 cartel drones being shot, we're very proud of. Our systems are working and operating effectively in the southern border and other areas of the country. And I think it's an inflection point. When exactly those dollars are going to show up in the awards will happen it's really tough to determine the timing of that precisely. We're working with them actively. The customers are trying to move fast, but they are clearly writing requirements holding competition as we're building and expanding capacity. And it's a multifaceted challenge and initiative, but I think we're positioned very well, and we'll keep you updated as we go forward. There are several, several customers they're working with beyond just U.S. Army and DHS that should result to some additional wins over the next several quarters for AV.

Austin Moeller

Okay. And then are you able to comment on the build rate ramp for Bread Dragon as facility expansion and CapEx is deployed there for that line and the potential for the U.S. military to maybe pull some of those rent dragon orders forward maybe from some other customers, just given the range could be used in Iran.

Wahid Nawabi

So I can only comment on this briefly at a high level, Austin. You're absolutely right. We have a winning solution that is very unique in its capability and its efficacy, especially given the kind of conflicts that are going on and the threats globally. Lots of engagements and demand for that. We're ramping up production. We have designed a product to get into the thousands of units a year of production. We're ramping that up actively today. I'm not able to comment specifically on where we are because of the sensitivity of that mission and customers. What I can tell you that we're making great progress, and we should have an update for you in the near future. You are absolutely right, that capability is a necessity, not a nice to have, it's a must-have and the type of conflicts we see in the world, and we're engaged with those customers. They're trying to moved quite aggressively, but it still takes time. And it's just a matter of just hopefully some timing that we're going to make progress. We're not waiting for the customer contracts and progress there. We're in [indiscernible] actively based on very strong signals for our customers and engagement with them. We're ramping up production. We're building units, and we're ready to scale this, and we're actually scaling it right now as we speak. This is the reason why we're investing in new facilities. Buying [ logging ] material, building units in stock because we know that the demand is coming. We know our customers need it. It's just a matter of how fast they can get in the contract.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Cashen Keeler from BNP Parabas.

Cashen Keeler

Obviously, you guys had a solid first quarter results here on revenue. But with you still expecting 45% of revenue to come in the first half that implies about a $40 million step down in revenue in 2Q relative to what you guys said on the last call about the 1Q, you split if we just take things at the midpoint. So just kind of wanted to unpack that and if there's any particular reason for that.

Sean Woodward

Yes, Cash. Great question. We're still holding to our 45-55 split. We got fantastic backlog. We've seen the back half of the year really been an increase in the overall volumes for our revenue. We did really good in Q1, we're able to deliver above our expectations. But the first half of the year, we're still tracking to the 45% and 55% in the back half of the year. Well supported by our viability at 86, and overall increased volumes in Q3 and Q4. SP1

Cashen Keeler

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then a couple of weeks ago, there was a memo from Deputy Secretary of war regarding greater cost transparency and basically setting margins across the industrial base. So I guess how can we think about that? And what impact that might have on your ability to maintain your kind of margin edge over, say, like legacy defense businesses and hopefully expand margins over time towards your 2030 targets.

Wahid Nawabi

Cashen, we are absolutely supportive of the government's effort in this area. You know as well as we do that AV's business model strategy is incredibly unique and enticing and compelling. That particular directive is obviously directed to the entire market and all the suppliers. But we see it more directed to the much larger prime where the department has significant serious challenges. On visibility to their supply chain, their cost models, their cost structures, their rate structures, et cetera, et cetera. We don't see that to be an impact for us whatsoever. We welcome it. It's still very premature. It's an audacious task that the government is going to be taken on, not easy to actually implement such an effort. I really, really support them on that upfront. We welcome it. We do not see that as a problem. We welcome it. We're ready. We're working with them. We spend a lot of own money on R&D, internal R&D to develop our products as commercial products. This is the AV business model that we've been working and executing successfully for multiple decades, ever since we've been public. It's almost 20 years now, and we've been doing this. And so it's nothing new to us. we welcome it, but I don't see it as an issue, and it's more targeted towards much larger clients where this problem is much more acute and a lot more dollars that slots around on lots of munitions and space programs and other things.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Brian Dobson from Clear Street.

Brian Dobson

So at the risk of beating a dead horse, I'd like to ask one more question on LOCUST. You gave some very exciting commentary about perhaps that product being adopted across military branches and a variety of venues. You also signed an international contract. Can you speak a little bit to the demand there. And perhaps how quickly you see international sales scaling in comparison with what seems to be a pretty steep ramp in the United States?

Wahid Nawabi

So Brian, I'm very optimistic about the international demand for our LOCUST systems. I tend to believe that the revenue may accelerate even faster internationally, given the kind of challenges that a lot of our allies have around the world with drone attacks. Look at what's happening in Eastern Europe look what is happening in Ukraine, but what's happening in around the Black Sea, Persian Gulf, Epic Fury, Middle East, Asia Pacific, prime, prime, prime urgent needs for these countries to protect themselves. And they just don't have the magazine depth to be able to withstand the type of attacks they're getting from some of our adversaries such as Iran and others including Russia. So I think this was part of our strategy from the beginning because we know the sweet spot for Counter-UAS is directed energy laser weapon systems. And we've got the world's best solution, it's performing, it's working, and we're scaling it. And exactly when those awards are going to come in, I think it's very difficult to predict that. But we do have several engagements, and I think those are going to continue to come in, and we'll keep you updated. The key was to get the inflection point, the U.S. Army to endorse it, select us officially saying that we're going to deploy this FAA to approve it and support it and endorse it. And then now everyone else is going to fall, not only domestically but also internationally. If playing according to our strategy, just perfectly, nearly perfectly. And while that's happening in the market, we're in parallel ramping up production, building systems as fast as we can. And that's just day's time.

Operator

Our next question will comes from the line of Clarke Jeffries from Piper Sandler.

Clarke Jeffries

I guess I'll start with Sean. Wondering if you could comment on the major drivers of cash outperformance in the quarter. What changed in your view and how you see receivables growing or shrinking over the coming quarters. And then just is the CR explicitly considered in your full year guidance for negative free cash flow?

Sean Woodward

Yes, Clarke, great question on the cash. We had a positive operating cash flow in the first quarter, $13 million, very favorable on that. We're really working to manage the cash as especially as we can while also strategically investing in inventory to get ahead of some of these long lead items and get that in stock to support rapid delivery of our products. We're anticipating managing the cash from a free cash flow perspective for the full year being slightly negative, driven mainly from the CapEx, managed working capital favorable growth in EBITDA and net income, but really the CapEx is going to drive us to the current year increase in CapEx, driving the free cash flow is negative. We don't anticipate that carrying into next year, we expect to see our capital levels return to more normalized level as this is an inflection point on our production capacity expansion in fiscal year '27. Regarding your second question on the CR. So that is factored into our guidance. We stated that in the last call, things have progressed pretty much exactly as we expected, a short-term CR followed by an approved defense budget, that's what we're expecting to happen in the December time frame. And our guidance currently reflects that.

Clarke Jeffries

Perfect. And then if I could just ask a follow-up. Just Wahid, you had this announcement around a joint venture established in Greece. I was wondering if you could just share an overview of where you're at with localizing production in Europe, where you intend that to go? It sounds like any kind of CapEx requirement is already considered in guidance. But just curious, as we think about the maturation of unmanned systems, how many of these countries that might be targets for foreign sales might want to move forward with an industrial work share agreement or localized production.

Wahid Nawabi

Welcome, Clarke. So we're engaged on with several countries. We've announced a Greece joint venture. We've announced our presence in U.K. We already have presence in Germany. We have a joint venture, a small one in Turkey. We also have efforts that we announced in terms of our teaming agreements and announcements in Taiwan. You're going to continue to see more and more of these over the next several quarters and years to come, both in Europe as well as in Asia Pacific and also in the Middle East. Those are the three focus areas: all of Europe, Eastern and Western plus Middle East, plus Asia Pacific. And then those countries are very specific. The reason for that is because the demand and the government's desire for our systems is quite strong, and it requires some level of local content and local presence, both in terms of engaging with those customers, but also in terms of actually producing subsystems or doing final assembly. The Greek militaries made public statements that they're going to be procuring a lot of loitering munitions and specifically Switchblade as run of those particular items. And it's in the government's budget process. It's gone through their parliament of it. And I've met with their top leaders, and it's actually progressing quite well. And so that's just not the only one though. We have similar engagements in other parts of Europe and Asia Pacific and in the Middle East. And I think you're going to continue to see us progress there as part of our international expansion and growth, and you're going to see more such announcements that happen over the next several quarters and years to come.

Operator

Our next question will come from the line of Gavin Parsons from UBS.

Gavin Parsons

Wahid, you've talked about needing to demonstrate capacity to unlock awards. I mean, is that what we're starting to see in these bookings? Or do you think bringing [indiscernible] and Albuquerque, et cetera, online will unlock more?

Wahid Nawabi

It's a combination of both. Yes, the current investment that we're making in our facilities, and we have made over the last several quarters and even last year, has already yielded very strong growth, right? When Ukraine more started, we aggressively expanded the production of our Switchblade facilities. We aggressively increase the demand and the production of our Puma systems for Ukraine. And then at the same time, when additional demand was needed for, we build the [indiscernible] facility. So we've gotten award for that. When we develop the P550, we expanded facilities for P550, U.S. Army gave us an award now. And so Titan the same thing, we've increased the capacity for our counter UAS systems. There is a direct correlation and link between us investing in showing our customers that we can deliver and producing and delivering on time and a reliable product to the customer and getting a lion's share of the business. Many people can claim that they have it, or they can do it. But unless they demonstrate, it's not the same thing. And what sets us apart is that we continue to deliver, execute and demonstrate to our customers that we're a safe bet. And so I think that's been working for us. Additional capacity expansions that we're making now on LOCUST, on RedDragon on Freedom Eagle-1, all of these are going to yield more success and awards over the next several quarters, in my opinion, because we're talking to those customers, and they're engaged with us and they want us to do that. And so it solves the government's problem because they don't have budgets that are long term, and when they get the money, they want to give it to people package to deliver right away or quickly and reliably. And that is [indiscernible] we're one of the top companies that can do that actually successfully, and we've demonstrated it.

Gavin Parsons

Got it. Okay. And then just back to 2Q kind of guide, I appreciate it's early in the year and there's still a lot of budget unknowns. But is there anything specific in 2Q that steps down EBITDA, even while revenue increases?

Sean Woodward

Yes. So Q2, the way we laid this out with our revenue profile at the 45-55, the back half of the year being a more favorable volume and improved sales mix. That was driving the EBITDA in the second half of the year. First half of the year, we delivered really strong in Q1. And in Q2, we see a little bit of a step down even though the volumes of higher the overall sales mix is slightly below, and then our increased IR expected to tick up in Q2.

Operator

And our next question will come from the line of Ron Epstein from Bank of America.

Unknown Analyst

This is Andrew on for Ron. I just want to focus on Greece for a second. There's a question a few moments ago on it about the AV Eagle joint venture. You guys announced that in August. And then this week, Greece announced a multibillion-dollar missile defense deal was signed. So I was wondering, what are you guys seeing there in terms of demand specifically for directed energy systems given the recent locust wins? Is there a place for locus in Greece's new Achilles Shield system?

Wahid Nawabi

Yes. So Andrew, we're engaged very closely with the Greek military on several fronts. I have personally met multiple times where the Chief of Defense. And the gentleman who was very reputable, very credible and very focused. They are very laser-focused on making sure that they adopt a large portion of their procurement to be things such as loitering munition and specifically Switchblade. So we're engaged with that. There's a competition. I can't comment specifically on it, but they do have funding in the budget that's going through their parliament and to the -- for approval, they made public announcements on that and statements and has been well documented in that regard. In terms of their laser weapon systems and the need for that, we're already engaged with them the existing the contract you described is something a little bit specific. It does not include our focus today. But it could easily expand into that and they're absolutely interested in that. They were more waiting for the U.S. Army to select on E-HEL, that E-HEL announcement and success, most likely going to actually instigate many allies, not just Greece, to become more sort of bullish and aggressive and their effort to try to procure systems such as Locus. I feel really good about it. I think we engage with several countries on that front, not just Greece. But the main focus on Greece today is about products such as Switchblade and our JUMP 20 and other systems, and the LOCUST systems are looking farther behind on that front, what we specifically.

Unknown Analyst

Got it. I appreciate that color. And I guess just a quick follow-up. So was the recent international contract kind of a similar dynamic where the customer was waiting to see validation from the U.S. R&D.

Wahid Nawabi

The answer is yes, Andrew. Validation from two fronts. The U.S. Army, of course, because U.S. military and approvals and program record selection is the golden standard allies in general. You have seen that in our 20-plus year track record. When we win [indiscernible] records with the U.S. Army for Puma, for Raven, for Switchblade, for Titan, whatever product we win programs with the U.S. military, it almost always translate into adoption internationally with not one only with several of them. So that was one. The second key criteria that was also for them to come to United States, go to the field test and push the I believe button by shooting down drones themselves in the field. They did that. We demonstrated it. Our system worked while the competitive systems are not working, and therefore, they give us the award. And we expect that to continue with additional customers. That has always been our strategy to just basically demonstrate and deliver. And if we do that, obviously, adoption will occur. And that's consistent with our strategy with LOCUST as well.

Operator

And this concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn it back over to Denise for any closing remarks.

Denise Pacioni

Thank you once again for joining today's conference call and for your interest in AV. As a reminder, an archived version of this call, SEC filings and relevant news can be found under the Investors section of our website. We hope you enjoy the rest of your evening, and we look forward to speaking with you again following next quarter's results. Goodbye.

Operator

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.