DIU announces $14M in DPA Title III agreements for sUAS

By Jaspreet Gill / October 13, 2021 at 4:32 PM

The Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit yesterday announced $14 million in Defense Production Act Title III agreements to strengthen the domestic small unmanned aerial systems industrial base.

DIU made eight awards in total as part of a larger strategy to accelerate the adoption of capable and secure sUAS through the Blue UAS effort, according to an Oct. 12 DOD announcement.

Blue UAS is “focused on increasing DOD access to commercial systems and strengthening the industrial base to disrupt the dominance currently demonstrated in the supply chain by one of the nation’s near-peer adversaries,” the announcement states.

The companies awarded include Systems and Technology Research; Skydio; Shield AI; Auterion Government Solutions; Kutta Technologies; Vantage Robotics; and Tomahawk Robotics. Auterion Government Solutions received two separate awards, according to the announcement.

“This investment in the defense industrial base is intended to provide critical battlefield capabilities across the spectrum of conflict, including on-demand reconnaissance which augments service members’ capabilities and increases their survivability, lethality and mission flexibility,” Jesse Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy, said in a statement.

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