War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the ambitious Drone Dominance program, initiating a rapid procurement sprint to acquire thousands of secure, low-cost, attritable small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) capable of one-way attack missions. The War Department is driving the effort to quickly integrate cutting-edge tools, ensuring warfighters possess the necessary capability to prevail with a “fight tonight” philosophy.
This new initiative formalizes Hegseth’s earlier directive, which sought to overturn restrictive acquisition policies and streamline the process for producing American-made sUAS.
Program Funding and Expected Scale of Production
The department commits $1 billion in fixed-price orders over the next two years to fund the four-phase program. By 2027, the War Department fully expects to purchase more than 200,000 drones through this aggressive new initiative.
The contracting phases will each begin with a “Gauntlet” challenge designed to rapidly test and evaluate vendor capabilities. Officials anticipate inviting 25 vendors to the Phase I Gauntlet, which is scheduled to commence on February 16, 2026. Only 12 chosen vendors will receive fixed-price orders at the conclusion of that initial phase.
Seeking Industry Expertise for Rapid Deployment
To maximize speed and efficiency, the War Department released a Request for Information (RFI) to gather comprehensive feedback from industry partners. Officials are actively seeking input on several crucial areas, including operational simplicity, optimal pricing models, advanced design and manufacturing approaches, and potential procurement hurdles.
The department also requests information concerning delivery timelines, supply chain security, counter-UAS technologies, and compliance with the National Defense Authorization Act. Industry responses to the RFI are due on December 10, giving the department time to publish the official Request for Proposals for the Drone Dominance Program shortly thereafter, around December 17. This accelerated timeline demonstrates the department’s urgency in establishing Drone Dominance capabilities now.
