US military orders 4,000 one-way attack UAVs with single-operator drone swarm control

Swarm Defense Technologies has received an order from the US Department of War for 4,000 Kiwi one-way attack drones, with a minimum value of $25 million including munitions. The Michigan-based company will build the aircraft for US military use.

The order was placed under the Department of War’s Drone Dominance Program, a challenge-based acquisition effort that uses military testing to evaluate small uncrewed aircraft before placing prototype delivery orders. The latest award follows the second Gauntlet competition at Fort Carson, Colorado.

The Kiwi is a quadcopter configured for one-way attack missions. But the technology behind the order extends beyond the individual aircraft. Swarm Defense pairs its drones with software designed to let one operator control multiple aircraft simultaneously.

The company will manufacture the drones at its 40,000-square-foot facility in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Swarm Defense grew out of Firefly Drone Shows, which has built more than 20,000 swarming drones since 2017 and shares engineering and manufacturing resources with the defense company.

One operator controls swarms

The company’s Strike Deck ground control software is designed to coordinate dozens of aircraft from a single operator. It automates waypoint navigation and relay-aircraft flight control while continuously managing flight paths to prevent aircraft from interfering with one another.

The system also provides terminal guidance for the final approach to operator-designated targets. Target selection and engagement authorization, however, remain with human operators.

“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 Navy SEAL.

Swarm Defense develops much of this technology in-house, including flight controllers, electronic speed controllers, power and battery-management electronics, embedded firmware, ground control software and swarm coordination technology.

“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.”

Kiwi extends beyond strike missions

Although the current order covers the one-way attack configuration, the Kiwi platform can be adapted for other missions. Swarm Defense says it can also perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, act as an airborne communications relay and serve as a reusable precision-dropper.

The company is also working on a containerized drone deployment concept through a Phase I prototype agreement with the Defense Innovation Unit. The system would keep drones in a forward-deployed container until a remote operator launches them for ISR or strike missions.

Swarm Defense’s broader software ecosystem includes Strike Deck, Swarm Studio mission-planning software and Swarm Threat Emulator systems used in Army, Air Force and Navycounter-drone training. Its current technology also focuses on coordinating large numbers of aircraft rather than treating each drone as an independent system.

The 4,000-drone order therefore combines two parts of the company’s technology: high-volume dronemanufacturing and software that allows a smaller number of operators to manage larger groups of aircraft.