The Pentagon outlined a two-year plan to buy hundreds of thousands of small commercial drones as part of its new Drone Dominance Program.
According to a request for information (RFI) published Tuesday, the Department of Defense (DOD) – rebranded as the War Department by the Trump administration – plans to purchase 340,000 industry-made drones by January 2028 under its new Drone Dominance Program, beginning with orders for 30,000 unmanned systems to be delivered by July 2026 .
In the RFI, the department said it seeks small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) capable of conducting one-way attack missions and aims to “accelerate growth of the U.S. industrial base to outfit our combat units with cheap and effective U.S.-made UAS.”
Responses are due Dec. 10.
DOD provided its initial acquisition framework in the RFI and on a new website, offering a first look at a four-phase plan intended to signal steady demand and drive competition among commercial drone manufacturers.
The department plans to commit $1 billion over two years to acquire small one-way attack drones across the four phases. Officials say they anticipate that increased industrial capacity will eventually allow drone purchases to shift to regular budgeting.
The first phase of the program runs from February to July 2026, when 12 vendors will be asked to deliver a combined 30,000 drones at $5,000 per unit. By the fourth phase, the Pentagon expects to buy 150,000 drones from five vendors at approximately $2,300 per system.
Each phase will begin with a “Gauntlet challenge,” where military operators test selected drones, and end with deliveries from top-performing vendors.
Companies that demonstrate strong performance may receive orders for 1,000 or more units. The number of systems purchased will rise with each phase, while the number of selected contractors will decrease.
The Pentagon anticipates that unit prices will fall after Phase II. Dates and pricing remain subject to change; the RFI includes a detailed timeline.
A request for solutions is expected Dec. 17, which will invite companies from the United States and allied Five Eyes nations to compete for entry into the Phase I Gauntlet.
The Drone Dominance Program is intended to build U.S. capacity for large-scale, low-cost drone production. Its creation follows an executive order from President Donald Trump and a July memorandum from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth detailing how the department would bolster domestic manufacturing, expand approved U.S. drone products and integrate drone use into combat training.
“We are adopting new technologies with a “fight tonight” philosophy – so our warfighters have the cutting-edge tools they need to prevail,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X.