unmanned aerial systems Archives

Screenshot of a DOD video of Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael and Defense Innovation Unit Director Travis Metz observing a drone dominance demonstration at Fort Benning, Ga., March 2, 2026. (DoW video by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Dennis Buzard)

British company tops leaderboard for Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program

The DOD announced the winners of the program's first "Gauntlet."

2 minutes ago By Jon Harper

U.S. Marines with 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, prepare C4 for detonation during a first-person view small unmanned aircraft system simulated sectored, simultaneous attack at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Oct. 31, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Mary R. Jenni)

Armaments consortium to help speed, standardize drone fuze production

Fuze development is particularly important to lethal UAS, which are intended to move quickly to a target and need to detonate reliably.

3 hours ago By Drew F. Lawrence

(Screenshot of a video released by U.S. Central Command March 3, 2026, showing an airstrike on an Iranian drone.)

Iran’s one-way attack drone launches drop as U.S. prepares to rev up Operation Epic Fury

“When we say ‘the throttle is going up,’ the throttle is going up — and it's going to stay on high,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

5 days ago By Brandi Vincent

AWS logo at the SK AI Summit 2025 held at COEX in Seoul, South Korea on November 3, 2025. (Photo by Hwawon Ceci Lee/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Commercial data centers emerge as targets in modern warfare after drones hit 3 AWS facilities

This incident likely marks the first publicly confirmed instance of a hyperscale data center run by a U.S. company to be hit in combat.

6 days ago By Brandi Vincent

An unmanned aerial system hovers in the airspace above Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., during a Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) 401 counter-UAS (c-UAS) exercise Nov. 17-21, 2025. The exercise prepared military personnel to detect, identify, and neutralize such as those seen hovering. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Wesley Domalewski)

Pentagon’s counter-drone task force launches commercial solutions opening

CSOs are intended to cut bureaucratic red tape and help the government onboard new tech faster, including from nontraditional vendors.

Feb 27, 2026 By Jon Harper

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon, July 10, 2025. The event was hosted to portray the Secretary of Defense’s initiative of Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alondra Y. Lopez Gonzalez)

Pentagon could award just 3 vendors for biggest phase of Drone Dominance Program

The Pentagon anticipates buying 150,000 drones in the final phase of the initiative.

Feb 13, 2026 By Jon Harper

YFQ-42 aircraft sit on the flightline at a California test location as part of the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft flight test campaign. (Courtesy Air Force photo)

Air Force begins testing mission autonomy package for CCA prototypes

General Atomics and Anduril are working with Collins Aerospace and Shield AI, respectively, to integrate mission autonomy software onto their CCA prototypes and conduct semi-autonomous flights.

Feb 12, 2026 By Mikayla Easley

PACIFIC OCEAN (June 22, 2022) The large unmanned surface vessel Nomad, front, medium displacement unmanned vessel Sea Hunter, right, and large unmanned surface vessel Ranger transit the Pacific Ocean to participate in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tyler R. Fraser)

Navy exploring options to solve its ‘unmanned dilemma’

The service’s new warfighting directions rely heavily on the integration of surface, undersea, and aerial drone swarms across the fleet.

Feb 11, 2026 By Brandi Vincent

A YFQ-42A Collaborative Combat Aircraft takes off during flight testing at a California test location. (Courtesy photo)

Marine Corps brings General Atomics into CCA program for autonomy development

The Marines will use General Atomics’ YFQ-42A aircraft to evaluate how the service’s future loyal wingman drones will integrate with and fly alongside crewed fighter jets.

Feb 10, 2026 By Mikayla Easley

A U.S. Marine with III Marine Expeditionary Force familiarizes himself with maneuvering drones during the Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 7, 2025. During a two-week period, the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team trained and certified 3rd Marine Division Marines as attack drone operators, attack drone instructor, and payload specialist instructors, increasing the Division’s lethality and capacity of trained and certified attack drone operators and instructors. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joaquin Dela Torre)

Marine Corps seeks troops with small drone and AI expertise for warfighting lab fellowship

The solicitation for nominations was released Friday via a MARADMIN message.

Feb 9, 2026 By Jon Harper