U.S. Drone Dominance Program Allocates 60,000 Attack Drones to Nine Companies After Gauntlet II

The U.S. Drone Dominance Program provisionally allocated 60,000 one-way attack drones among nine manufacturers after its August 2026 Gauntlet II trials at Fort Carson, Colorado. The evaluation covered two mission categories, Deep Strike at roughly 15 km and Close Quarters Battle inside confined spaces, with 30,000 aircraft allotted to each category. Perennial Autonomy and Neros led their respective rankings, while Neros qualified in both and received a combined 14,000-unit allocation. Final contract quantities remain subject to award, and the evaluation also considered electronic-warfare resilience, user assessments, production capacity and supply-chain compliance.