Army launches drone marketplace developed in partnership with Amazon
The Army on Tuesday announced the official launch of a new online marketplace for the procurement of drones, as the service moves to boost its unmanned systems arsenal and the U.S. industrial base.
The Army collaborated with Amazon Web Services in developing the digital storefront, according to a press release.
AWS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Unmanned Aircraft Systems Marketplace includes tools that “allow users to compare system functionalities, provide direct feedback, and place orders with ease,” officials wrote in the release.
The Army Enterprise Cloud Management Agency had a hand in the platform’s development, per the release.
Officials have been previewing the UAS marketplace since last year, as the Army looked for faster and better ways to get drones into the hands of soldiers and units and tailor procurement to meet warfighter needs.
Earlier this month, the service launched a commercial solutions opening to support the initiative.
“The UAS Marketplace is a prime example of how the Army is transforming its acquisition processes to be more agile, competitive, and effective,” Brent Ingraham, the Army’s acquisition executive, said in a statement Tuesday. “By lowering barriers to entry and partnering with a wider range of industrial innovators, we are building a more resilient and responsive defense industrial base, which is essential for equipping our force and deterring our adversaries.”
The digital storefront comes as the Pentagon is pursuing a “Drone Dominance” initiative launched last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Notably, the Army’s new online portal is also expected to help other government organizations and foreign partners buy drones.
“As it matures, this free-market approach to UAS procurement will strengthen international partnerships and streamline Foreign Military Sales processes by delivering mission-specific unmanned systems at the speed of relevance,” officials wrote in the press release.
Last month, the Defense Department kicked off a separate marketplace for counter-drone tech to help the military acquire new tools to defeat UAS threats.
