Three companies with deep ties to Alabama have been invited to compete in the first phase of the Department of War’s new Drone Dominance Program, a sweeping acquisition effort aimed at rapidly fielding large numbers of low-cost, weaponized drones for U.S. forces.
The Department of War announced earlier this week that 25 vendors nationwide were selected to participate in Phase I of the program, known as “the Gauntlet,” which will evaluate unmanned, one-way attack drone systems through direct testing by military operators.
Among the invited companies are Griffon Aerospace Inc., headquartered in Madison; Kratos SRE Inc., based in Birmingham; and Auterion Government Solutions Inc., which maintains a major corporate office in Huntsville.
The Drone Dominance Program was commissioned by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shortly after he took office, as part of a broader push to align emerging technologies with evolving battlefield threats and accelerate the pace of military acquisition.
“Drone dominance is a process race as much as a technological race,” Hegseth wrote in a July 2025 memorandum outlining the initiative. “We are buying what works—fast, at scale, and without bureaucratic delay. Lethality will not be hindered by self-imposed restrictions.”
Phase I testing is scheduled to begin February 18 at Fort Benning, where service members will fly and evaluate vendor systems under operational conditions. The Gauntlet is expected to conclude in early March, when approximately $150 million in prototype delivery orders will be awarded. Deliveries are slated to begin shortly thereafter and continue over a five-month period.
The Drone Dominance Program is structured as a four-phase effort totaling $1.1 billion, with competitive cycles measured in months rather than years. According to the department, later phases will drive down unit costs while increasing production volumes and operational capability.
By 2027, the department expects to field hundreds of thousands of weaponized, one-way attack drones ready for combat use.
Griffon Aerospace, based in Madison, has a long history in the development of target and tactical unmanned aircraft systems. Kratos SRE, headquartered in Birmingham, is a well-established player in the tactical drone and defense technology space.
Auterion Government Solutions, while headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, lists Huntsville as its primary corporate office.
The Drone Dominance Program is sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of War and executed by the Defense Innovation Unit in coordination with the Test Resource Management Center and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.
Department officials emphasized that funding for the program is fully in place and the timeline intentionally compressed.
“The funding is ready and steady,” the department said in its announcement this week. “The competition begins now.”
