The department named these 25 companies: Anno.Ai; Ascent AeroSystems; Auterion Government Solutions; DZYNE Technologies; Ewing Aerospace; Farage Precision; Firestorm Labs; General Cherry; GreenSight; Griffon Aerospace; HALO Aeronautics; Kratos SRE; ModalAI (Modalai Inc.); Napatree Technology; Neros (Neros Inc./Neros Technologies); OKSI (Oksi Ventures); Paladin Defense Services; Performance Drone Works; Responsibly Ltd.; Swarm Defense Technologies; Teal Drones; Ukrainian Defense Drones Tech Corp; Vector Defense; W.S. Darley & Co.; XTEND Reality (Xtend Reality Inc.).
According to the department's RFI and press coverage, Phase I uses an operational "Gauntlet" evaluation where military operators will fly and assess systems; contracting is being run as rapid fixed‑price delivery orders across four short phases. The program is sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of War and executed by DIU, Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division and the Test Resource Management Center; the department said it will award prototype delivery orders (about $150M for Phase I) and use repeated competitive gauntlets to narrow vendors.
The 300,000 figure covers large-scale buys of small, low‑cost "one‑way"/kamikaze small UAS (first‑person‑view quadcopters-style designs). RFI descriptions call for systems carrying ~4.4 lbs of explosive, with ranges of several miles in open terrain and shorter urban strike ranges; initial phases focus on small, inexpensive airframes rather than larger manned or endurance UAS.
Yes—public reporting and the RFI indicate the program focuses on weaponized one‑way attack drones ("kamikaze"/strike effects). The department has said lethality will not be hindered by self‑imposed restrictions, but specific rules of engagement and legal rules governing use (targeting, collateral‑damage mitigation, human‑in‑the‑loop requirements) are not detailed in the public documents; those rules remain governed by existing DoD law of armed conflict, targeting policy, and service implementing guidance.
The department stated an overall program budget of roughly $1.0–1.1 billion across four phases; Phase I prototype delivery orders total about $150 million (12 vendors to produce ~30,000 drones at ~$5,000 each). Beyond Phase I, the RFI projects unit costs falling (to ~ $2,300) as volumes rise. Public reporting does not provide a full line‑item financing plan or total program-of-record obligation schedule.
Phase I (the Gauntlet) evaluation began mid‑February 2026 with ordering of ~$150M in prototype delivery orders; deliveries for Phase I prototypes were expected over the following five months (spring–summer 2026). The program envisions four consecutive gauntlet phases through 2026–2027 with an aggressive ramp to tens of thousands in 2026 and hundreds of thousands by 2027, but exact per‑vendor delivery schedules beyond Phase I are not publicly detailed.
Public materials say oversight and controls will rely on repeated operational evaluations (the gauntlets), rapid fixed‑price orders, and service/operator testing; however, detailed oversight, safety, privacy, and operational control mechanisms (e.g., safety certification, command-and‑control architectures, human‑in‑the‑loop rules, auditing, domestic privacy protections) are not disclosed in the publicly released RFI/announcements and remain unspecified.