Military Drones
Military Drones
Reconnaissance, strike, and tactical military drone programs.
About Military Drones
The Pentagon is buying attack drones by the tens of thousands. Its Drone Dominance Program will spend $450 million on about 60,000 one-way attack drones in its third round, at $5,000 for a long-range drone and $3,000 for a short-range one. Of the 30,000 ordered after the first round, 16,680 had passed government inspection by 15 October.
Larger uncrewed aircraft and ships are coming too. On 17 June the Air Force gave the first Collaborative Combat Aircraft contracts, for drones meant to fly beside crewed fighters, to General Atomics and Anduril. The Navy will buy 30 medium uncrewed ships, ten each from Galliano Marine Services, HII and Saronic, at an average of $40 million a vessel.
Ukraine's war sets the pace. Its Ministry of Defence said on 22 September that it had cleared 650 new drone models for its forces since January, more than two a day. Ukraine's air defences stopped 64% of Russia's jet-powered Shahed drones in September's daytime attacks, against 91% of its other strike drones, by FlightBrief's count of Air Force reports.
The losses run both ways. The US Air Force had lost 45 MQ-9 Reapers over Iran by 13 August, about a quarter of the fleet. A Reaper costs $30 million to $50 million.
Coverage
France Seeks a Builder for Its SMOKERS Explosive Drone Boats
The DGA designed the boat itself and wants about 10 a year in peacetime, with capacity for 50. The tender gives no contract value.
Pentagon Offers Neros Up to $450M to Make Drone Parts
The loan is conditional and nothing is drawn yet. Neros adds $165M of its own and plans to sell motors and radios to other drone makers.
Polish Army Units Buy 3D Printers to Build Their Own Drones
One 3D-printer dealer in Pomerania won 69% of the 3.56 million złoty signed so far. More than a third of the parts tendered ended with no contract.
Helsing Joins Funding Round of Missile Maker Destinus
Neither company gave a figure. Bloomberg's sources put Destinus at about €6 billion, above the €5 billion it sought in May.
Congress Backs $1 Billion of the $54.6B DAWG Request
The rest rides on a reconciliation bill that has not passed. Hegseth wants a four-star Autonomous Warfare Command by October 2027.
Ukraine's Army Orders One Drone in Five From an Online Shop
More than 200 Ukrainian makers sell through it, up from 20 in its first month. Every figure is the defence ministry's own.
Airbus Flies Its U740 Valkyrie Combat Drone in Europe
The airframe is Kratos's; Airbus supplies the mission system it says keeps control in Europe. No order is public, and the target is 2029.
Blue UAS List Added at Least 20 Drones in 2026, Not 49
The official list dates 49 entries to 2026, but batch dates and repeats inflate it. 16 were cleared earlier; nine are unresolved; one is a part.
UAE's EDGE Will Arm Morocco's Combat Drones With Glide Bombs
No value, quantity or drone types were published. EDGE will also modify Morocco's drones and their software to carry the weapons.
Ukraine Keeps the Drone AI UK Firms Train on Its Footage
Up to 12 British firms get free use of Ukraine's battlefield drone data, at their own cost, with £1.25 million later shared by five.
Armed Cerberus Drone Joins the Pentagon's Blue UAS List
Skyborne's drone fires 40mm grenades or shotgun rounds, then lands to reload. The listing clears it for US military buying; no order is public.
Red Cat Offers €39 a Share for Engine Maker Steyr Motors
The drone company wants the Austrian firm's marine engines for its drone boats. Steyr's anchor holder has agreed to sell, but half the shares are needed.
Bundestag Clears Net-Firing Drones to Guard German Bases
The defence ministry named no maker, quantity or price. A German firm says its net drone already serves the Bundeswehr and the federal police.
Raytheon's $729M Counter-Drone Award Adds Qatar and Jordan
Raytheon gave no split between the three buyers, and no matching award appears in the Pentagon's daily contract notices.
JIATF-401 Committed $158M to Homeland Counter-Drone Gear
The task force's first-year review counts money and projects, not results: no systems fielded, sites protected or drones stopped.
US Bans Unauthorized Drone Flights Along the Mexico Border
One nautical mile deep and 400 feet high, the zone runs to 19 October 2027. Flights inside it need clearance from Customs and Border Protection.
Pentagon Plans $450M Order for 60,000 Jam-Resistant Drones
Prices are fixed at $3,000 and $5,000 a drone, plus the warhead. Every bidder must fly through jamming, and fibre-optic links are encouraged.
Japan Buys Ukrainian Interceptor Drones From SkyFall
Defence Minister Koizumi named no model, number or price. Japan sends Ukraine no weapons, but now buys one of its anti-Shahed drones.
Navy Orders 30 Medium Drone Ships at About $40M Each
The Navy published an average price, not a total. Saronic, HII and Galliano Marine build ten each, with the first due by September 2027.
Taiwan Coast Guard Reopens NT$783 Million Drone Tender
The first round was voided in August. The 18 drones were meant to reach Taiping Island in the Spratlys by March; bids now close 9 November.
Companies
Anduril Industries
US defense technology company building autonomous weapons, counter-UAS, and AI command software, and manufacturing them at its own Arsenal-1 plant in Ohio.
United States
Quantum Systems
German maker of VTOL reconnaissance drones and autonomy software for European and US defense customers, with large-scale deployment in Ukraine.
Germany
Red Cat Holdings
US defense drone company supplying NDAA-compliant small unmanned systems for military reconnaissance through its Teal Drones subsidiary.
United States
AeroVironment
US manufacturer of small tactical UAS, loitering munitions and counter-UAS systems, transformed in scale by its 2025 acquisition of BlueHalo.
United States
General Atomics
Privately held US defense contractor whose GA-ASI division builds the Predator and Reaper families of large military uncrewed aircraft.
United States
Helsing
Munich defence company building AI software, the HX-2 strike drone, the SG-1 Fathom underwater glider and the CA-1 Europa uncrewed combat jet.
Germany
Neros Technologies
US manufacturer of low-cost first-person-view attack drones and counter-UAS interceptors, built around a domestic supply chain outside Chinese components.
United States
RTX Corporation
RTX is a US aerospace and defense company formed from the 2020 Raytheon–United Technologies merger, run as Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon.
United States
Products
Black Hornet 4
Teledyne FLIR
A 70-gram reconnaissance helicopter a single soldier carries and flies, bought by the US Army since 2018 and sold to forces in more than 45 countries.
Teal 2
Red Cat Aerial
A 1.25 kg night-reconnaissance quadcopter on the Blue UAS list, bought by Border Patrol and Air Force security units. DHS scored it lowest of five cleared drones in 2024, and its maker is now selling a successor.
Black Widow
Red Cat Aerial
The US Army's chosen short-range reconnaissance drone, built for rucksack portability and contested airspace — its position rests on winning the SRR program of record rather than on any single specification.
Funding
Series D
UC Investments, Baillie Gifford, Merlyn Advisors, Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital, Iberis Capital
TekeverSeries C
Sequoia Capital, American Strategic Technology Fund, Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, Dylan Field
Neros TechnologiesGrowth
Dragoneer Investment Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Disruptive, Iconiq, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, JPMorganChase, CPP Investments, General Catalyst, Plural, StepStone
HelsingSeries B
DTCP, British Business Bank, NATO Innovation Fund, Rheinmetall, Inocea Group, HICO, Thesiger Capital Group, BOKA Capital, Supernova Invest, Hakluyt Capital
Kraken Technology GroupContracts
Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV)
Saildrone
A year-long maritime surveillance service for the Swedish Navy in the Baltic Sea: four Saildrone…
U.S. Special Operations Command
Tekever
Purchase of Tekever drone systems after validation and acceptance testing; the number, model and…
U.S. Army
L3Harris
Three-year contract from the Army's DEVCOM Aviation & Missile Center to develop a long-range…
Powerus
Unusual Machines
Purchase order from Powerus Corporation for US-made drone components (motors, batteries, cameras and…
U.S. Navy
Boeing
Not-to-exceed IDIQ for system improvements, configuration development, integration, production…