The Pentagon has begun mass-production prototype tests of kamikaze drones submitted by 25 private companies, Axios reports.
The tests began on February 18 and are being conducted at the US Army base in Fort Benning, Georgia. According to the portal, they will continue until early March and will include testing small, inexpensive drones and their manufacturers. These tests are being conducted to draw conclusions from the conflict in Ukraine.
Jeff Thompson, CEO of Red Cat's Teal Drones, one of the 25 participants in the tests, told the portal that the Pentagon is paying special attention to the ability of companies to increase production. He stressed that if a company fails to deliver on time or is delayed by, say, two weeks, it will be eliminated from the competition.
Other competitors in the race include Dzyne Technologies, Firestorm Labs, Neros, Performance Drone Works and Vector Defense. After testing, the winner will receive a $150 million order for prototypes.
In early February, the US Department of Defense announced plans to create a stockpile of hundreds of thousands of attack drones by 2027.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the development of an acquisition strategy aimed at rapidly equipping the US military with drones. The Pentagon then announced 25 participants in the first phase of the Drone Dominance Program (DDP), which aims to “reform the acquisition system to deploy rapidly available attack drones nationwide to strengthen America's freedom arsenal“.
Invited companies include Ukrainian General Cherry Corp and Ukrainian Defense Drones Tech Corp.