Media: Pentagon tests 25 kamikaze drone prototypes for mass orders

The U.S. Department of Defense has begun testing kamikaze drone prototypes submitted by 25 private companies as part of a major push to accelerate mass production of one-way attack drones.

The initiative, officially known as the “Drone Dominance Program” and informally referred to by officials as “the Gauntlet,” is being conducted at Fort Benning in Georgia, according to a Defense Department press release, Caliber.Az reports per Axios.

Among the companies selected for the first phase are Dzyne Technologies, Firestorm Labs, Neros, Performance Drone Works, Red Cat’s Teal Drones division, and Vector Defense.

Under the program, military drone operators will fly and evaluate the vendors’ equipment through early March. The Pentagon will then begin placing orders totaling $150 million for prototype deliveries, which are expected to be completed over the following five months.

"They're very blunt about it at Drone Dominance: If you can't produce them and deliver them on time — if you're two weeks late — you're out," Red Cat CEO Jeff Thompson told Axios. "It's all about production. The factory is the weapon."

The Pentagon expects to spend more than $1 billion on the program across four increasingly competitive phases. During phase one alone, the Department of Defense plans to purchase 30,000 one-way attack drones.

A separate U.S. official said the initiative could significantly reshape defense supply chains and alter "how the drone industry does business with the department."

By Sabina Mammadli