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Unmanned Systems

DoD Selects 25 Vendors To Compete In First Round Of Drone Dominance Program

By Cal Biesecker

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2026

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DoD Selects 25 Vendors To Compete In First Round Of Drone Dominance Program

Neros Archer First Person View drone. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps

The Defense Department on Tuesday said it has selected 25 companies to compete in the first phase of its program to quickly acquire low-cost, one-way attack unmanned aircraft systems while buttressing the domestic industrial base for drones and related technologies. The $150 million Phase I competition, called the Gauntlet, begins Feb. 18 at Fort Benning, Ga., and will involve military operators flying and evaluating the drones. At the end of the fly-off in early March, DoD will begin awarding prototype…

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