Introduction to One-Way Attack Drones
The US military is set to order 30,000 one-way attack drones as part of its Drone Dominance initiative. This move comes after a series of combat-readiness tests at Fort Benning, Ga., where unmanned platforms from 25 drone companies were evaluated.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon’s program manager for the Drone Dominance program, Travis Metz, announced that the winners of the competition will be given orders for the drones, which will be delivered to military units over the next five months. Additionally, the tests involved about 100 servicemembers who evaluated the drones in simulated combat situations.
Key Features of the Drones
For example, the drones were sent out 10 kilometers to hit a specific target, and operators were only given two hours of training for each unmanned aerial system (UAS). However, the military operators were asked to evaluate the performance of the drones based on whether or not they would take it to war.
Furthermore, the Pentagon anticipates spending $5,000 per drone in phase one of the program, which for 30,000 drones would come to $150 million. Therefore, the program aims to get prices down to $2,000 per unit over the lifetime of the effort.
Future Plans and Testing
A second phase of testing will begin in August, and will involve a full counter-UAS environment that includes denial of GPS and communications capabilities and electronic warfare. Meanwhile, the requirements will reduce the cognitive load on operators, making the drones more effective in combat situations.
