The funding provided by the Big Beautiful Bill is ready to be used to mount an effective sprint to build combat power.
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) December 2, 2025
We call it Drone Dominance.
At the War Department, we are adopting new technologies with a "fight tonight" philosophy – so our warfighters have the… pic.twitter.com/F6UMLxmwB7
The Department of War (DoW) announces Drone Dominance, an iterative $1 billion plan to purchase small, lethal drones over the next two years. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's intent is to accelerate growth of the U.S. industrial base and rapidly arm combat units with low cost, consumable drones at scale.
Drone Dominance is designed with the principles outlined in Secretary Hegseth's acquisition strategy: a steady demand signal and a commercial competition that leverages private capital, dropping prices while boosting lethality across the ranks.
Selected companies will be invited to participate in Prototype Gauntlet events. Victorious vendors will be selected at each event to receive orders. At Gauntlet I in February 2026, the DoW expects to order 30,000 drones with deliveries to be fulfilled by July 2026.
By 2027, Drone Dominance intends to purchase over 200,000 drones that can produce lethal effects in the toughest battlefield environments.
Each phase of the program begins with a Gauntlet challenge and ends with completed delivery of production-quality sUAS systems from winners of the Gauntlet event. All sUAS will be flown by military operators and evaluated on the ability of the sUAS to complete various mission scenarios. The highest scoring vendors will receive orders from the DoW. Approximately 25 vendors will be invited to compete in the Phase I Gauntlet. The program anticipates four phases, and dates are subject to change.
This is not a down select process. Vendors that are not selected to participate in Phase I may apply to participate in future phases.
December 17, 2025
Official Request for Solutions published
February 17, 2026
First phase evaluation - 30,000 drones ordered
Approx. 6 months after Gauntlet I
Second phase evaluation
Approx. 6 months after Gauntlet II
Third phase competition
Approx. 6 months after Gauntlet III
Final phase evaluation
The Drone Dominance Program would like feedback from the defense industrial base. Please submit your response to our Request For Solutions (RFS) and join us in driving Drone Dominance.
Access the NSTXL consortium portal to submit for official acquisition correspondence
Submit your Request for Solutions response through our secure form
View the official Request for Solutions document
Essential information about program participation and engagement processes.