U.S. Army tests robotic machine gun against drones

An autonomous machine gun system engaged drone targets in the Arizona desert, according to official photos from a U.S. military exercise.

The system, called Bullfrog and built by Texas startup Allen Control Systems, pairs a standard M240 machine gun with a robotic turret, in this case bolted into the bed of a pickup truck.

The demonstration took place at Cibola Range, part of the Joint Experimental Range Complex at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, during an exercise called Falcon Peak 26.2. North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command run the recurring exercise, which they describe as a counter-small drone experiment meant to test new technologies, expand what the military calls “Low Collateral Defeat” methods of bringing down drones, and give developers fast feedback to speed up work on capabilities the Department of War could use across multiple branches.

Bullfrog is built to solve a specific problem: standard machine guns can shoot down drones, but aiming one accurately at a small, fast-moving target usually requires a skilled human gunner. Allen Control Systems’ robotic mount adds computer vision and targeting software that can find, track and fire at a drone. The company’s pitch to the military is straightforward: bullets for a machine gun cost far less than the missiles most air defense systems use, so a gun that can reliably hit small drones offers a much cheaper way to counter them.

Allen Control Systems was founded in 2023 and is based in Austin, Texas, with additional offices in Alexandria, Virginia, and an innovation lab in Huntsville, Alabama. The company has grown quickly on the strength of that pitch, raising $12 million in seed funding in 2024, a $30 million Series A round in March 2025, and, most recently, a $200 million Series B round at a $2.2 billion valuation. Bullfrog is already fielded with the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, and the company says it posted a 100 percent success rate at a Department of War test called Technology Readiness Experiment 2026 earlier this year, following earlier demonstrations at Camp Atterbury, Indiana, in 2024.

“Bullfrog provides governments with a scalable and affordable solution,” said early Mike Wior, co-founder and chief executive of Allen Control Systems, describing the system as an alternative to costly missiles and interceptors.

Allen Control Systems has said it has also received contracts through Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the Army-led organization that runs the broader Falcon Peak series of counter-drone experiments alongside NORTHCOM.