Half the Pentagon's Bomber-Drone Field Is Ukrainian. Permits and Visas Set the Pace
About half the 17 firms in the Pentagon's bomber-drone round are Ukrainian, and the round slipped to November. Kyiv's export fast track has issued no permits, US visas take weeks, and the next round requires American final assembly.
About half the 17 firms invited to the Pentagon's bomber-drone round are Ukrainian, and the round slipped to November. Kyiv's export fast track has issued no permits, US visas take weeks, and the program's next round requires American final assembly.
Gauntlet 2.5 slips to November
The Pentagon's drone program now leans on Ukrainian suppliers, and the queue for permits and visas is setting its pace. The Drone Dominance Program pushed Gauntlet 2.5, its round for reusable bomber drones, from October to November "to best position all participants for success," its website says. About half the 17 invited companies are Ukrainian, the Kyiv Independent found, among them UFORCE, Gurzuf Defence, Skycutter-Skyfall, Meta Bureau, Grim Tech and F-Drones. The program's answer arrives in its next round, which makes American final assembly the floor.
Stellarion's experience shows how little preparation time survives the queue. Its head of exports recalled that the company's drones for a June event at Camp Grayling, Michigan, landed in Detroit that same morning, slowed by Ukrainian export controls and shipping. Export approvals still take weeks; shipping adds two to three more.
By Oct. 13, at least four of the 17 invitees had declined to audition, two of them Ukrainian, according to the program's website. Gurzuf Defence withdrew and declined to return after the postponement, saying it would need until December. The program's leaderboard shows the same strain from an earlier round: Skycutter-Skyfall placed first in Phase I in March and won an order for 2,560 drones, yet was the last of 11 companies to deliver.
The Pentagon said Ukrainian export controls and shipping times were not "in themselves a factor" in the delay, which "included a recognition of the time-consuming U.S. visa processes." It also called Ukrainian products "the most battlefield-tested Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems products in the world." The US Embassy in Kyiv does not process traditional business visas, so applicants travel abroad and wait weeks or months.
The Michigan National Guard has closed Camp Grayling's Range 30 Complex from Nov. 7 to 22, and garrison commander Col. Lucas Lanczy expects 17 companies. The round's request for solutions sets aside $30 million for up to 1,200 bombers. Each invitee had to ship six aircraft that can cost up to $20,000 apiece to produce.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Gauntlet 2.5 of the Drone Dominance Program?
It is the Pentagon's evaluation of reusable bomber and payload-dropping drones. The program invited 17 companies and set aside $30 million for up to 1,200 bombers, according to its request for solutions. The round moved from October to Nov. 7 to 22 at Camp Grayling, Michigan.
Why was the bomber round delayed?
The Pentagon said the decision included a recognition of time-consuming US visa processes, and that Ukrainian export controls and shipping were not in themselves a factor. Ukrainian firms told the Kyiv Independent that export approvals take weeks and shipping adds two to three more.
How many Ukrainian companies are in the competition?
About half of the 17 invitees, per the Kyiv Independent. At least four invitees, two of them Ukrainian, had declined to audition by Oct. 13, according to the program's website. Gurzuf Defence said it would need until December.
Has Ukraine's export fast track issued any permits?
No permit had been issued under Resolution No. 875 as of Oct. 2, LB.ua reported. Davyd Aloian, chair of the export control commission, said the required country and critical-goods lists were not yet in place.
Do Drone Dominance suppliers have to build in the United States?
From Phase 3, yes. The program's July 23 Supply Chain Framework makes US final assembly the minimum, and reassembling a kit does not count as manufacture. Phase 3 sets aside $450 million for about 60,000 drones.
How do China's Nov. 18 export controls affect drone makers?
China will license exports of high-power brushless motors, their speed controllers and some long carbon-composite propeller blades. DroneXL's analysis finds small FPV motors fall below the thresholds, while heavy-lift bomber drones are exposed.
AI-generated summary, reviewed by an editor. More on our AI guidelines.
Read next — from the Lexicon
Below this point
- Kyiv's fast track has issued no permits
- F-Drones delivered 2,000 drones by the old route
- Phase 3 makes American assembly the floor
- China's Nov. 18 list hits the bomber class
- The orders behind the factories
- What to watch
Marcus Schuler
Marcus Schuler edits BattlePolicy, a daily defense-technology brief connecting the companies and capabilities behind modern war to the contest among Europe, the US, Russia, and China.