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U.S. tests drone swarms for near-peer war, cuts field to some 25 firms
The U.S. Department of War narrowed its Swarm Forge drone program from more than 130 competing companies to approximately 25 industry partners after successive field evaluations. September trials at Fort Bragg tested heterogeneous air and ground systems in electronic warfare, darkness and complex terrain, using an AI battle manager with human oversight. A fourth field evaluation is scheduled for late January 2027 at Camp Lejeune, when finalized swarm packages are expected to be selected and validated for operational units. The program began in January 2026 and combines operators, software developers and hardware suppliers through iterative testing.