Perennial, Neros Top Nine Winners of Pentagon 60,000-Drone Order
TL;DR
- Nine startups will split Pentagon orders for roughly 60,000 drones after clearing a no-Chinese-parts requirement.
- Perennial Autonomy, backed by Eric Schmidt, topped the deep-strike leaderboard; Neros topped close-quarters battle.
- A month earlier, most competitors failed the same specification, ending a $300 million round in frustration.
The Pentagon will split orders for roughly 60,000 drones among nine startups that cleared a single hard rule — no Chinese-made parts anywhere in the aircraft, The Information reported.
That bar stopped the department cold a month earlier. Most competitors couldn't meet what Steve LeVine described as a "hard-and-fast specification: The drones could contain no Chinese-made components or materials," and a $300 million round ended in frustration. This one didn't.
Officials described the winning aircraft as "cheaper, more capable, and sourced from a supply chain more closely tied to the American industrial base," DefenseScoop reported from the Gauntlet 2 results announcement on September 18 at Fort Carson, Colorado. The deep-strike leaderboard was topped by Perennial Autonomy — Eric Schmidt's counter-drone startup, which in May won a separate $500 million Pentagon interceptor contract — followed by Hyperscale, Neros, Skycutter and Swarm Defense Technologies. Close-quarters battle went to Neros, ORQA US, XTEND Reality, Vector and ModalAI. Nine unique companies in total, because Neros placed in both.
The Trump family is financially tied to three drone companies that attended the White House's first Drone Dominance industry event on August 18. Gauntlet 2.5, focused on "bomber" drones, is on the calendar for next month.
Originally reported by theinformation.com
Read the original article →Original headline: Nine Drone Startups Split Pentagon 60,000-Unit Order That Bars All China-Made Parts