The U.S. Department of War should announce Drone Dominance program winners in the coming days and issue them contracts for strike drone delivery after testing concluded last Sunday within this project. Overall, the Pentagon plans to order 30,000 so-called one-way attack drones, with deliveries continuing over the next five months.
According to Breaking Defense, testing lasted approximately two weeks, with 25 companies participating as previously known. American military personnel tested their solutions, checking combat readiness.
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Approximately 100 military personnel participated in tests, predominantly ground forces and Marines. Not very much time was allocated for testing each drone about two hours. They were tested in simulated combat scenarios, for example in one scenario the strike drone had to fly 10 km and hit a specific target.
Of the 25 participants in testing, 12 companies should receive contracts. Within the first stage, winners will receive contracts totaling $150 million, meaning the U.S. will spend $5,000 per drone procurement. However, there are plans to subsequently reduce costs by more than half to $2,000.
Defense Express recalls that at this Drone Dominance competition stage, two Ukrainian companies are among 25 teams General Cherry as well as Ukrainian Defense Drones Tech Corp., competing against companies such as Kratos, which among other things produces XQ-58 Valkyrie. The list also includes American companies supplying their drones to Ukraine.
Previously, General Cherry revealed details about participation in this multi-level program which envisions genuinely rigorous technical selection. The company emphasized they presented a comprehensive solution with a drone, control system and communications, and warhead, focusing on low production cost, scalability, and stable supply chain.
Although it remains ultimately unknown whether either of these companies or both will receive a Pentagon contract, program head for the department’s drone superiority assurance Travis Metz hinted that this is very likely.Some of them [Ukrainian companies] will probably get orders, he noted. Recall that one condition is establishing drone production in the U.S.
Overall, some American lawmakers (Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen) criticized the Pentagon for a lack of close interaction specifically with Ukrainian unmanned system manufacturers.
This concerns the schedule for the program extending nearly six months, while combat operations in Ukraine demonstrate that drones require modernization much more frequently. I don't know how we'll be able to compete if we're talking about a schedule every six months, while our adversaries modernize weekly, Shaheen noted.
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