Pentagon Develops “Smart” Drones for Replicator’s Enterprise Test Vehicle

By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News

Last summer, the Pentagon unveiled a plan aimed at competing with China by building thousands of inexpensive, smart drones. It was dubbed Replicator.

On Monday, the Defense Department took what might be another step in the process – awarding contracts to four companies to build a drone known as an enterprise test vehicle (ETV). The contractors are being asked to demonstrate how a modular drone could be used to test a variety of technologies. They also must show how a large number could be built at an affordable cost.

Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems, Leidos Dynetics and Zone 5 Technologies will develop prototypes that would be ready for flight demonstration by late summer or fall.

The project is being run by the Air Force Armament Directorate and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the Silicon Valley-based Pentagon organization that was created in 2015 to help the military make better use of commercial technologies.

In its proposal, DIU said it was looking for a modular test platform that could be built quickly, had a range of 500 nautical miles and could deliver a kinetic payload. Officials say more than 100 companies applied.

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