:

Unmanned Systems

Special Operations Command Awards Small Contracts For Kinetic Drones

By Cal Biesecker

Friday, October 23rd, 2026

SHARE:

Special Operations Command Awards Small Contracts For Kinetic Drones

EchoMAV's MONARK small drone. Photo: EchoMAV

U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) recently awarded contracts to six companies to further mature their solutions for small, first person view attritable kinetic drones for use by tactical units. Awards were made to DFA Systems, $2.3 million, EchoMAV Technologies, $1 million, ModalAI, $1.7 million, Neros, $3.1 million, Vector, $111,640, and XTEND AI Robotics [XTND], $497,748, for Phase III of the Modular Kinetic Lethal Drone (MKLD) program, SOCOM told Defense Daily last week. XTEND in late September announced it had been…

Budget

Hegseth Pushes For Reconciliation With At Least $350 Billion For Defense ‘Regardless’ Of Midterms Outcome

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday the Trump administration plans to continue its push for at least $350 billion in defense funds via the reconciliation process “regardless of what happens […]

Congress

Bipartisan Push in Senate to Hasten Export of 155 mm, GMLRS, HIMARS for Ukraine

A small, bipartisan group of senators is backing the Fast Tracking European Investment in Ukraine’s Defense Act, S. 5175, to hasten the export of allied buys of U.S. munitions for […]

Congress

Rep. Himes Signals Increased Contractor Oversight, if Democrats Win House

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, plans to increase the committee’s contractor oversight if the Democrats win control of the House […]

Congress

CBO Estimates Loss of One-Half to Two-Thirds of U.S. Missile Interceptors Since June Last Year

A new Congressional Budget Office report estimates the cost of the Iran war through Aug. 1 as $38 billion and says that the U.S. has likely depleted between one-half and […]