Initial planning indicates the department intends to spend $1.1 billion on the program over four phases and regularly buy drones to offer a consistent demand signal to the US defense industry. "Drones are the biggest battlefield innovation in a generation, accounting for most of this year's casualties in Ukraine," Hegseth said in the July 2025 memo, adding that "US units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires." The full list of defense companies participating in the DoD's Gauntlet competition are: 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.
Author: cpanella@businessinsider.com (Chris Panella)
Published at: 2026-02-04 21:57:00
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