Amount of expense for award under share-based payment arrangement. Excludes amount capitalized.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116856206&loc=d3e5047-113901

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SAB Topic 14.F)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=115993241&loc=d3e301413-122809

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (h)(1)(i)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116856206&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AllocatedShareBasedCompensationExpense
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Period over which grantee's right to exercise award under share-based payment arrangement is no longer contingent on satisfaction of service or performance condition, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days. Includes, but is not limited to, combination of market, performance or service condition.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=116856206&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardAwardVestingPeriod1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of vesting of award under share-based payment arrangement.

+ References

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_SharebasedCompensationArrangementBySharebasedPaymentAwardAwardVestingRightsPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Number of shares issued during the period to an employee benefit plan, such as a defined contribution or defined benefit plan.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesEmployeeBenefitPlan
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PlanNameAxis=avav_Fiscal2020LtipMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_AwardTypeAxis=us-gaap_PerformanceSharesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VestingAxis=avav_ShareBasedCompensationAwardOneHundredPercentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VestingAxis=avav_ShareBasedCompensationAwardFiftyPercentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VestingAxis=avav_ShareBasedCompensationAwardTwoHundredPercentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_RangeAxis=srt_MaximumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PlanNameAxis=avav_Fiscal2019LtipMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PlanNameAxis=avav_Fiscal2018LtipMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_PlanNameAxis=avav_Fiscal2017LtipMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

Long-Term Incentive Awards (Details) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended			6 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
Long-Term Incentive Awards (Details) - USD ($)	Oct. 26, 2019	Oct. 27, 2018	Jul. 29, 2017	Oct. 26, 2019	Oct. 27, 2018	Apr. 30, 2019
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense				$ 1,736,000		$ 1,429,000
Fiscal 2020 LTIP
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense		$ 0			$ 0
Fiscal 2020 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense	$ 166,000			$ 297,000
Exercisable period from grant date				3 years
Fiscal 2020 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 100% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)				100.00%
Fiscal 2020 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 50% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)				50.00%
Fiscal 2020 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 200% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)				200.00%
Fiscal 2020 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| Maximum
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense				$ 4,263,000
Fiscal 2019 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense	16,000	211,000		48,000	$ 255,000
Exercisable period from grant date					3 years
Fiscal 2019 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 100% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)					100.00%
Fiscal 2019 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 50% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)					50.00%
Fiscal 2019 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 200% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)					200.00%
Fiscal 2019 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| Maximum
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense				2,478,000
Fiscal 2018 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense	46,000	$ 113,000		$ 39,000	$ 334,000
Exercisable period from grant date				3 years
Fiscal 2018 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 100% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)			100.00%
Fiscal 2018 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 50% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)			50.00%
Fiscal 2018 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| 200% Vested
Stock Based Compensation
Vesting (as a percentage)			200.00%
Fiscal 2018 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units \| Maximum
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense				$ 1,850,000
Fiscal 2017 LTIP \| Performance based restricted stock units
Stock Based Compensation
Stock based compensation expense	$ 0			$ 0
Exercisable period from grant date						3 years
Issue of fully-vested shares of common stock to settle				14,814