Michigan firm to build 4,000 attack drones for U.S. troops

Michigan drone maker Swarm Defense Technologies has received an order for 4,000 Kiwi one-way attack drones under the U.S. Department of War’s Drone Dominance Program, the company announced Sept. 22. The prototype delivery order has a minimum value of $25 million, including munitions, which works out to about $6,250 per drone at that minimum.

The Kiwi is a small quadcopter built to fly to a target and explode on impact. The company will build the order at its 3,700-square-meter (40,000-square-foot) plant in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It did not give a delivery schedule or say which units will receive the drones.

The award follows Gauntlet II, the program’s second competitive round, held at Fort Carson, Colorado, in August. Military operators flew 1,858 sorties across 23 drone designs from 19 companies in unscripted missions, including strikes from 15 km (9.3 miles) away, attacks in confined spaces, night flights and runs against jamming and counter-drone systems. Swarm Defense placed fifth on the deep strike leaderboard with 66.0 points. The program’s order schedule set 4,000 drones for fifth place in each mission area.

“Receiving an order for 4,000 Kiwi aircraft is a major milestone for Swarm Defense,” said Kyle Dorosz, CEO of Swarm Defense Technologies. “The Drone Dominance Program has placed its confidence in both our aircraft and our ability to deliver them at scale.”

The company’s main pitch is volume per operator. Its Strike Deck ground control software lets one person manage dozens of drones at once, automating navigation and the flying of relay drones that extend radio range while keeping the aircraft from colliding. The drones can guide themselves on the final approach to a target, but operators choose the targets and authorize each strike, the company said.

“Combat units need to bring volume to the fight. Swarming allows a single pilot to accomplish what it normally takes several pilots to do,” said Adam Wright, president of Swarm Defense Technologies and a former U.S. Navy SEAL.

Swarm Defense grew out of Firefly Drone Shows, which the company describes as the largest U.S. maker of light-show drones. Firefly has built more than 20,000 swarming drones since 2017, and the two companies share engineering and manufacturing in Auburn Hills. Swarm Defense designs its own flight controllers, motor controllers, battery electronics, firmware and control software in-house.

The order covers only the strike version of the Kiwi. The company says the drone can also be fitted for reconnaissance, as an airborne radio relay or as a reusable drone that drops munitions and returns. Separately, it holds a Phase I prototype agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit to develop containers of drones that could sit dormant at forward positions until a remote operator launches them.

The Drone Dominance Program is a $1.1 billion, two-year effort to buy large numbers of cheap, U.S.-made attack drones for combat units. The first round, Gauntlet I at Fort Benning, Georgia, in February and March, produced about $150 million in orders for roughly 30,000 drones from 11 companies. For Gauntlet II, the department plans to buy about 60,000 drones from 10 companies, worth roughly $300 million. To reach Fort Carson, each of the 19 finalists had to deliver 120 drones fitted with explosive payloads within about five weeks.

Two more rounds, Gauntlet 3 and Gauntlet 4, are planned at roughly six-month intervals, along with a separate competition for bomber drones scheduled to start in October.