Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following Why Ranks Sign Up
America's race to mass-produce combat drones

America's race to mass-produce combat drones

New Capabilities

The Pentagon scrambles to build hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones after Ukraine exposed a critical capability gap

February 3rd, 2026: Pentagon Selects 25 Vendors for Gauntlet Competition

Overview

The Pentagon spent $398 million on small drones in 2022. Four years later, as Ukraine demonstrated that $400 drones could destroy $10 million tanks, Congress authorized $1.7 billion—a fourfold increase. Now the Department of Defense has launched its most ambitious small-drone initiative ever: a $1.1 billion program to field more than 300,000 one-way attack drones by 2028, with the first 30,000 expected by mid-2026.

This week, the Pentagon selected 25 companies—including two Ukrainian firms—to compete in what officials call 'the Gauntlet,' beginning February 18 at Fort Benning, Georgia. The winners will receive $150 million in prototype orders, with the goal of driving unit costs from $5,000 down to $2,300 per drone. It marks a fundamental shift: the Pentagon will now treat small drones as consumable munitions, like hand grenades, rather than precious surveillance assets—a doctrine that Ukraine wrote in blood and the United States is racing to adopt.

Play on this story Voices Debate Who Said What? Predict

Key Indicators

25
Vendors Selected
Companies chosen to compete in Phase I of the Drone Dominance Program
$1.1B
Total Program Funding
Allocated across four production phases through 2028
300,000+
Drones Targeted
One-way attack drones to be procured by early 2028
$5,000→$2,300
Unit Cost Goal
Target price reduction from Phase I to Phase IV

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

(1879-1955) · Modernist · science

Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.

"Ah, so we have learned to make war more *efficient*—how marvelous that human ingenuity, which could feed millions or heal the sick, instead perfects the art of destruction at wholesale prices. I suspect these flying hand grenades will not discriminate between a tank and a wedding party, but perhaps I am too old-fashioned to appreciate such economies of scale."

Cecil Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes

(1853-1902) · Victorian Era · industry

Fictional AI pastiche — not real quote.

"Ah, what exquisite economy! The Americans have finally grasped what I knew of the Maxim gun—that superiority lies not in the cost of the instrument, but in possessing ten thousand where your enemy has ten. Though I confess, in my day we at least had the decency to recover our weapons from the battlefield for the next campaign; this notion of disposable conquest strikes me as rather wasteful, even for a republic."

Ever wondered what historical figures would say about today's headlines?

Sign up to generate historical perspectives on this story.

Log in Sign Up

Play

Exploring all sides of a story is often best achieved with Play.

Log in to play. Track your picks, climb the leaderboards. Log in Sign Up
Predict 4 ways this could play out. Contrarian picks score more — points lock when the scenario resolves. Log in to play
Timeline Five events from this story — drag them oldest to newest. Log in to play
Connections Sixteen names from the news. Find the four hidden groups of four. Log in to play

People Involved

Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth
Leading Pentagon drone transformation
 Emil Michael
Emil Michael
Leading technical implementation of drone programs
 Kathleen Hicks
Kathleen Hicks
No longer in government; Replicator architect

Organizations Involved

U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of Defense
Federal department
Program administrator

The Pentagon is now treating small drones as a top acquisition priority after years of lagging behind adversaries in mass drone production.
Defense Innovation Unit
Defense Innovation Unit
Pentagon Technology Office
Managing Blue UAS certification

The Defense Innovation Unit certifies commercial drones for military use through its Blue UAS program, which ensures systems are free of Chinese components.
Anduril Industries
Anduril Industries
Defense Technology Startup
Major drone contractor; Gauntlet competitor

The Oculus founder's defense startup has become a leading provider of drones and counter-drone systems, winning over $1 billion in Pentagon contracts since 2024.
Red Cat Holdings
Red Cat Holdings
Defense Technology Company
Army Short Range Reconnaissance contractor; Gauntlet competitor

Red Cat's Teal Drones subsidiary won the Army's Short Range Reconnaissance contract in 2024, displacing Skydio with its Black Widow quadcopter.
UD
Ukrainian Defense Drones Tech Corp
Defense Technology Company
Gauntlet competitor

One of two Ukrainian firms selected for the Pentagon's Drone Dominance Program, bringing battlefield-tested drone technology to American procurement.

Timeline

August 2017 February 2026

11 events Latest: February 3rd, 2026 · 4 months ago Showing 8 of 11
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. Pentagon Selects 25 Vendors for Gauntlet Competition

    Latest Contract

    The Pentagon announced 25 companies—including Anduril, Red Cat, and two Ukrainian firms—selected for Phase I of the Drone Dominance Program, with evaluations beginning February 18 at Fort Benning.

  2. Drone Dominance Program Formally Launched

    Program

    The Pentagon issued a request for information seeking manufacturers to produce 300,000 drones, marking the formal start of the $1.1 billion Drone Dominance Program.

  3. Replicator 2 Absorbed Into New Task Force

    Reorganization

    Hegseth consolidated the Biden-era Replicator 2 counter-drone program into the newly created Joint Interagency Task Force 401.

  4. Hegseth Issues Drone Dominance Directive

    Policy

    Defense Secretary Hegseth signed the 'Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance' memo, reclassifying small drones as consumable munitions and ordering every Army squad equipped with drones by end of 2026.

  5. Trump Signs Drone Executive Order

    Policy

    President Trump signed an executive order directing improvements to military and commercial drone capabilities, focusing on inexpensive American-made systems.

  6. Red Cat Wins Army Reconnaissance Contract

    Contract

    Red Cat Holdings' Teal Drones subsidiary won the Army's Short Range Reconnaissance program, displacing Skydio with its Black Widow quadcopter.

  7. Anduril Wins $250 Million Interceptor Contract

    Contract

    The Pentagon awarded Anduril a major contract for Roadrunner-M drone interceptors and Pulsar electronic warfare systems.

  8. Replicator Initiative Announced

    Program

    Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks launched Replicator with $1 billion to field thousands of autonomous systems by August 2025, aiming to counter China's numerical advantage.

  9. Russia Invades Ukraine

    Conflict

    Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began demonstrating the transformative role of low-cost drones in modern warfare.

  10. Blue UAS Program Launches

    Program

    The Defense Innovation Unit established the Blue UAS program to certify American-made drones free of Chinese components for military use.

  11. Army Bans DJI Drones Over Security Concerns

    Policy

    The U.S. Army ordered personnel to cease using Chinese-made DJI drones due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, marking the first major military action against foreign drone technology.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

March 2004 - October 2005

DARPA Grand Challenge (2004-2005)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency offered a $1 million prize for the first autonomous vehicle to complete a 150-mile desert course. In March 2004, the best performer traveled just 7.32 miles before failing. Eighteen months later, five vehicles completed a 132-mile course, with Stanford's 'Stanley' winning the $2 million prize.

Then

The competition demonstrated that prize-based challenges could rapidly accelerate autonomous vehicle development, attracting university teams and commercial innovators who had never worked with the Pentagon.

Now

The challenge spawned the self-driving car industry—Stanley's team leader Sebastian Thrun later led Google's autonomous vehicle project, which became Waymo. Global investment in autonomous vehicles has exceeded $200 billion since 2004.

Why this matters now

The Drone Dominance Program's Gauntlet competition uses a similar approach: attracting non-traditional vendors through competition rather than traditional procurement. Just as DARPA accepted that most 2004 entries would fail to prove the concept could work, the Pentagon expects the Gauntlet to winnow 25 vendors down to 12 high-volume producers.

2003-2009

Army Future Combat System Cancellation (2009)

The Army's $160 billion Future Combat System—the largest modernization program in service history—promised networked ground robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, and digitally connected manned vehicles. After six years and $18 billion spent, Defense Secretary Robert Gates cancelled the program, citing cost overruns, technical problems, and changing battlefield requirements.

Then

The cancellation shocked the defense industry and led to congressional investigations into acquisition reform.

Now

The failure reinforced skepticism of large, integrated 'system of systems' programs. The Pentagon shifted toward smaller, incremental programs—though critics argue it then overcorrected by avoiding ambitious technology integration.

Why this matters now

The Drone Dominance Program explicitly rejects the Future Combat System approach. Instead of a decade-long development program seeking perfect integration, it emphasizes buying existing commercial technology 'fast, at scale, and without bureaucratic delay.' The program's four-phase gauntlet structure allows rapid course correction.

1995-2001

U.S. Predator Drone Introduction (1995-2001)

The CIA deployed the RQ-1 Predator drone for reconnaissance in the Balkans in 1995. After the September 11 attacks, the Air Force armed Predators with Hellfire missiles. In October 2001, a Predator killed Mohammed Atef, al-Qaeda's military chief—the first drone strike in history.

Then

The armed Predator revolutionized counterterrorism, enabling strikes in denied areas without risking pilots.

Now

Predator spawned the Reaper, Global Hawk, and a generation of high-end military drones. But the emphasis on precision, persistence, and cost per platform—Reapers cost $32 million each—created a procurement culture that struggled to adapt when Ukraine proved cheap drones could be decisive.

Why this matters now

The Predator's success created assumptions about drone warfare that Ukraine overturned. The Pentagon optimized for expensive, reusable systems operated by specialists. Ukraine showed that wars could be shaped by $400 first-person-view drones operated by infantry. The Drone Dominance Program represents a doctrinal reversal: from few and precious to many and expendable.

Sources

(12)
+6
DefenseScoop Breaking Defense Defense News Congressional Research Service Military.com U.S. Army Center for Strategic and International Studies Red Cat Holdings DARPA CNBC Breaking Defense Defense News