The U.S. War Department has announced the 25 vendors invited to compete in Phase I of the Drone Dominance Program (DDP), an acquisition reform effort designed to rapidly field low-cost, unmanned, one-way attack drones at scale as part of strengthening America’s Arsenal of Freedom.
“Drone dominance is a process race as much as a technological race,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth wrote in his July 2025 memorandum, Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance. “We are buying what works—fast, at scale, and without bureaucratic delay. Lethality will not be hindered by self-imposed restrictions.”
The Phase I evaluation—known as the Gauntlet—begins 18 February at Fort Benning, where military operators will fly and assess vendor systems in operational conditions. The Gauntlet will conclude in early March, when approximately $150 million in prototype delivery orders will be issued. Deliveries will begin shortly thereafter and continue over the next five months.
Drone Dominance operationalizes the Secretary of War’s acquisition reform priorities by sending a clear demand signal to industry: $1.1 billion across four phases, warfighters at the center of evaluation, and competitive, iterative cycles measured in months rather than years. Across each phase, unit costs decrease, production volumes rise, and operational capability improves.
By 2027, the Department expects to field hundreds of thousands of weaponized, one-way attack drones ready for combat deployment.
The program is sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of War and executed by the Defense Innovation Unit, the Test Resource Management Center, and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.
Funding is in place. The timeline to build combat power is compressed. The competition begins now.
The Department has invited 25 companies to participate in Gauntlet I, listed alphabetically below:
ANNO.AI, INC.
ASCENT AEROSYSTEMS INC
AUTERION GOVERNMENT SOLUTIONS INC
DZYNE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
EWING AEROSPACE LLC
FARAGE PRECISION, LLC
FIRESTORM LABS, INC.
GENERAL CHERRY CORP
GREENSIGHT INC.
GRIFFON AEROSPACE, INC.
HALO AERONAUTICS, LLC
KRATOS SRE, INC.
MODALAI, INC.
NAPATREE TECHNOLOGY LLC
NEROS, INC.
NOKTURNAL AI
PALADIN DEFENSE SERVICES LLC
PERFORMANCE DRONE WORKS LLC
RESPONSIBLY LTD
SWARM DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
TEAL DRONES INC
UKRAINIAN DEFENSE DRONES TECH CORP
VECTOR DEFENSE, INC
W S DARLEY & CO
XTEND REALITY INC.
Source: U.S. Department of War