The U.S. Army has selected Anduril Industries and Performance Drone Works to provide Small Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (SUAS) to Army units as part of an effort to quickly acquire capability and get it into soldiers’ hands in the service’s modernization push. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George has dubbed the initiative “transformation in contact,” emphasizing buying available commercial-off-the-shelf capability and promptly testing it with soldiers to avoid lengthy development cycles. The Company Level Small UAS Directed Requirement effort exemplifies this approach, aimed at facilitating experimentation, innovation, learning, and adaptation within the Army.
This program exemplifies the Army’s agility in transitioning from ideation to requirement, competition, testing, and contract award for production, particularly in swiftly evolving technology sectors like small uncrewed aircraft systems, according to the Army’s acquisition chief, Doug Bush. Anduril and Performance Drone Works have secured a contract worth $14.42 million to deliver the initial tranche of systems meeting the company-level SUAS requirement, which gained approval in June 2023.
Performance Drone Works’ C-100 UAS and Anduril’s Ghost X will equip brigade maneuver companies with the capacity to execute reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition missions, utilizing reconfigurable drones equipped with modular payloads that are attritable. The Army’s focus on procuring small, adaptable, and expendable drones stems from insights gained through drone operations in conflicts like the one in Ukraine. The swift selection of drones for the initial tranche was facilitated by the pre-existing approval of both platforms on the Defense Innovation Unit’s Blue UAS list for Defense Department utilization.
