Drones and Unmanned Systems - Air, Sea, Land, Micro & Robot Systems

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has selected five winners of a Drone Dominance "Lethality Prize Challenge." The vendors, Bravo Ordnance, Kela Defense, Kraken Kinetics, Mountain Horse, and Northrop Grumman, were chosen to provide scalable, cost-effective weapon payloads for Group 1 drones, which weigh 20 pounds or less. The selection positions these companies as preferred vendors in the military’s accelerated effort to weaponize small, low-cost aircraft.

The contract and certification pathways for the winning hardware are expected to be significantly expedited. Northrop Grumman will deliver its off-the-shelf Common UAS Payload fuze and effects module. Meanwhile, hardware startup Bravo Ordnance entered its 5.5-pound "HitchHiker" munition; according to company officials, the selection reduces the safety review process from years to eight weeks and secures a pathway for substantial manufacturing orders, including an expected purchase of 60,000 units by the Drone Dominance Program in Phase 2.

This challenge is part of a larger, $1 billion push unveiled by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to rapidly field small, lethal drones across the U.S. military, including a fast-approaching October 1 deadline to equip every Army squad with one-way attack drones. The lethality competition follows an earlier "gauntlet" challenge in February that resulted in orders for 11 aircraft firms. The Pentagon is currently scaling up procurement, following testimony from program manager Travis Metz that the department was prepared to order 30,000 one-way attack drones.

Source: Breaking Defense
Associated URL: https://breakingdefense.com/2026/05/five-companies-win-dods-drone-dominance-small-drone-lethality-prize-challenge/

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker has reached Milestone C approval, clearing the program for low-rate initial production just weeks after a production-representative aircraft completed its first flight. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao called the milestone a major step forward for unmanned aerial refueling capabilities. The Navy plans to order three aircraft in the first production lot later this summer, with options for two additional lots totaling eight more aircraft.

Developed by Boeing, the carrier-based drone tanker is designed to refuel aircraft such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, allowing those fighters to focus more on strike missions while extending carrier air wing range and preserving aircraft service life. The MQ-25 is slated to become the Navy’s first operational carrier-based unmanned tanker.

Despite progress, the program has faced schedule delays and cost growth. The Navy plans for 76 aircraft overall, including test units, with total program costs estimated near $16 billion. The Pentagon’s FY27 budget request includes $1.75 billion for initial production, long-lead materials, and mission control systems supporting MQ-25 operations aboard aircraft carriers.

Source: Defense One
Associated URL: https://www.defenseone.com/business/2026/05/navy-greenlights-low-rate-production-drone-refueler/413652/?oref=d1-featured-river-secondary
Author: Lauren C. Williams 

WASHINGTON -- The United States military has selected defense technology firm Shield AI to integrate its autonomous piloting software into a new class of low-cost, one-way attack drones.

Under the agreement, the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering will utilize Shield AI’s Hivemind software for the Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System program. Developed by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Prototyping and Experimentation, the program focuses on creating large volumes of affordable, disposable drones designed to overwhelm adversary air defenses through sheer numbers.

The integration aims to establish collaborative autonomy within drone swarms, allowing multiple uncrewed platforms to coordinate and adapt to changing battlefield conditions in real time. Unlike traditional autopilot systems that rely strictly on preplanned routes, the artificial intelligence software allows the aircraft to dynamically reroute, avoid obstacles, and execute navigation tasks independently.

A single human operator will oversee the swarm, maintaining exclusive control over all engagement and strike decisions, while the software manages navigation and tactical coordination. The military plans to conduct an operational demonstration of the integrated system this fall to evaluate the ability of a single operator to command a collaborative autonomous swarm.

The software selection builds on existing military contracts. The Hivemind system is currently utilized across several other U.S. and allied defense platforms, including the U.S. Air Force Collaborative Combat Aircraft program on Anduril's YFQ-44A, U.S. Navy BQM-177 test aircraft, Airbus UH-72A Lakota helicopters, and the Destinus Hornet platform.

This agreement underscores a significant shift in modern military strategy toward affordable mass and collaborative autonomy. By leveraging low-cost, one-way attack drones powered by artificial intelligence, the military aims to counter advanced adversarial defense systems without relying solely on expensive, exquisite hardware. If successful, the capability to have a single operator manage an entire autonomous swarm under communication-constrained environments could fundamentally alter tactical aviation, reducing human risk while exponentially increasing the scale and speed of aerial operations.

Source: Forecast International
Associated URL: shield.ai